


What to Expect when Unexpected

by GameGrumpsSexbangFangirl



Series: The Grumps and I [2]
Category: Game Grumps, Ninja Sex Party - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-04-10 22:30:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 30,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4410245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GameGrumpsSexbangFangirl/pseuds/GameGrumpsSexbangFangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unplanned pregnancy is never good. Will these nine months bring you and Dan closer or will it slowly break your relationship?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reality Sets In

**Author's Note:**

> OH LOOK, SOMETHING THAT I ACTUALLY KNOW HOW TO WRITE ABOUT! Pregnancy is like, so easy for me to write about. I know a lot about it, so get ready for like, hecka fun chapters! YEAH!

Congratulations!? MOMMY!? No no no! I'm not ready for that shit yet!  
"How the hell am I gonna tell him Suzy!?" Like seriously, how the hell am I supposed to tell my boyfriend, my big man child of a boyfriend, that I'm pregnant, after we've only been dating for a month?  
"Well, you know, just be like... 'Hey Dan, I'm pregnant!' It's pretty easy!"  
"Suzy, I'm being serious!"  
"So am I. You can't be scared __, this is happening. No turning back now, and you can't hide it from him. It's his kid, he has the right to know."  
"I know that Suzy, I just don't want him to leave me."  
"He's not going to leave you!"  
"He probably doesn't even want kids though!"  
"How do you know? Have you asked him?"  
"Well, no... But-"  
"But nothing. You're telling him, or do you want me to? Although I don't think it would be that special coming from me."  
"I'll tell him, I just have to think of a way to bring it up."  
"There you go! I got your back, I'll help you."  
"Can I have a bite of your ice cream..?" She giggled and handed me the spoon.


	2. Telling Dan

Me and Suzy had been thinking of ways to tell Dan that I was pregnant. I hadn't realized that we had been locked away in the room so long until I heard the door handle wiggle.   
"Hey, we're done filming, so you can come out!" It was Dan. I felt my breath catch in my throat.   
Suzy put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.   
"Calm down __, it's not like you're confessing to a murder. Just tell him."   
She was right, I mean, he couldn't be that upset about it.   
He seemed to really enjoy it when Brian's daughter Audrey was around, and he was a great uncle. But, this would be his kid. Would he be happy about having his own kid? Well there's only one way to find out I guess. 

I got up to leave and Suzy followed me out. She was cradling her ice cream and still shoveling spoonfuls into her mouth. She sat on the couch next to Arin, and Danny was sitting in the armchair. He opened his arms, a gesture that usually meant that he wanted me to sit on his lap and he had a long day. I walked over and sat down, he wrapped his arms around me.   
I was breathing heavy and he noticed, he shifted himself so that he could look at me.   
"What wrong babe? Are you okay? What happened?" He looked concerned.   
I took a deep breath and looked over at Suzy for reassurance. She smiled at me and nodded her head. Arin looked from Suzy, to me, then back at Suzy. Suzy leaned to whisper in Arin's ear.   
"Oh SHIT!" He shouted and jumped up. "Does he-"   
"SHUT UP!" Suzy shouted and pulled him back down to the couch.   
"Dan... I'm pregnant..." I whispered.   
"You're what?"   
"Pregnant..."   
He loosened his grip around my waste and took a deep breath.   
"I'm gonna be a dad?"   
I nodded and he ran his hand through his hair. He carefully scooted out from under me and walked over to Arin.   
Arin and Suzy looked up at him and he stood there for a second, then a giant grin spread across his face.   
"I'M GONNA BE A DAD ARIN! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! CALL ME DADDY!" Arin stood up and bro hugged him and Suzy looked over at me and smiled.   
This wasn't how I expected this to go, but I was happy that it went this way. He was happy, well he looked more than happy, he was ecstatic!   
"I'm gonna go tell Barry and Ross! Oh my god, this is fucking awesome!" Dan was nearly skipping over to tell them and Arin trailed behind him.   
Suzy gave me the "I told you so" look and I sighed in relief.   
"See, look how happy he is __. He's going to be an amazing father, and you're going to be a fantastic mom."   
"You think he's gonna be happy in like six months when I wake up in the middle of the night for ice cream and pickles?"   
We both laughed and then we heard everyone cheer.   
The atmosphere in the Grump Space was a mixture of happiness and pure joy. Everyone came out to congratulate me and Dan together, and that's when it fully hit me.   
These people were my best friends, they were my family, and they were the best family I could have asked for.


	3. A Late Night Talk

Dan and I were laying in bed, it had been a long day.   
Dan hadn't stopped smiling since I told him the news, and he had his hand on my stomach and was absentmindedly rubbing it as we talked even though there wouldn't be anything to really rub for another 5 or so months.  
"Why were you scared to tell me?"   
"I thought you would be mad or that you would leave me."   
"What the fuck? I would never leave you! I would like to think that I've reminded you enough that you're the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me and I'm not gonna lose you."   
"But you don't want kids."   
"And what gave you that idea?"   
"You have Ninja Sex Party, and you have to do Game Grumps and Steam Train and..."   
"And nothing. I want kids, I can still work on Grumps and my band."  
"I just don't want to burden you with-"   
"Shush."   
"But..."  
"No buts. Go to sleep. I love you."   
"I love you too."   
I rolled over to kiss him and snuggled close to his chest, and fell fast asleep


	4. Symptoms Suck

It sucks to wake up and have to immediately run to the toilet at 3 in the morning. I flushed the toilet and went to brush my teeth. Dan peeked in and yawned.   
"You alright?"   
"I just puked, my throat burns. It's 3 in the morning. Do you think I'm alright?"   
"Alrighty then sass master, would you like a cup of water?"   
"Yes please, sorry for being bitchy. It's just, that wasn't enjoyable."   
"I understand baby, just go lay down, I'll get your your water."   
I sat in the bed and wrapped the blanket around me. He came back and handed me the water. I chugged it, and it helped soothe the burning in my throat.   
"Thank you."   
He sat next to me and grabbed the empty glass from my hands and placed it on the night stand next to him.   
"__, have I ever told you how beautiful I think you are?"   
"All the time, are you gonna tell me again now?" He laughed and grabbed my hand and kissed it.   
"Well, right now I'd say you look gorgeous. I'm just so happy, you're having my baby."   
"Dan... Are you gonna-"   
"Having my baby, what a lovely way of sayin' how much you love me"   
"Dan stop!"   
"HAVING MY BABY! WHAT A LOVELY WAY OF SAYIN' YOURE THINKING OF ME!"   
"Dan shut up, people are sleeping! I hate that song."   
"I love you."   
"I love you too, can I try to get back to sleep now?"   
"Do you want me to sing to-"   
"God no! Go to sleep Dan."   
He laughed and kissed me.   
"Goodnight baby." 

 

I was running through the woods, only this time I was moving in slow motion. Everything else around me was moving normally. The footsteps behind me were approaching faster and faster. I couldn't scream, I couldn't do anything to save myself. I felt a hand land on my shoulder and the dark menacing laughter of the man behind me.   
I jerked awake, there was sweat on my forehead and tears streaming down my face. It was so vivid, so real. Wasn't my night already shitty enough? I already threw up, I have heart burn, and now I get to have vivid night terrors about the shit that I've tried so hard to put behind me.   
I checked my phone, it was 5 in the morning. I was still tired, maybe if I took a shower I would feel better.   
I tried to get up without waking Dan, but my movement woke him up immediately.   
"Babe, are you okay? Do you need to throw up? Do you want me to hold your hair back?"   
"No, I'm fine. I just had a bad dream, I'm gonna take a shower. You can go back to sleep."   
"Are you sure? Do you want to talk about it?"   
"I'd rather not."   
"Alright, well call me if you need me."   
He laid back down and I tiptoed quietly to the bathroom. 

The shower was peaceful, the water felt nice on my skin and I was alone with my thoughts for a while. I wasn't able to be alone yesterday, everyone was congratulating me and Dan on the pregnancy but now that I did have a few minutes a wave of thoughts flooded my mind. Is Dan going to be able to handle all of my mood swings and my weird emotions? I'm gonna start craving soon, I'm gonna eat too much. I'm gonna get pretty big in the coming months. Is Dan still going to want me? He's probably going to think I'm ugly. He's gonna leave me, he's gonna find someone prettier than me and be happy with her.   
I turned off the shower and wrapped myself in a towel and walked out of the bathroom. Nobody was awake yet, so I decided to make a pot of coffee and sit at the table for a while. The thoughts continued to go through my head and I laid my head down on the table and started crying. 

"Babe, baaaabe!" Dan was shaking my arm. I must have cried myself to sleep. God dammit.   
I wiped my eyes, the sun was out and Barry was sitting on the couch. Dan was already dressed and ready to head out to the grump space, and here I was, sitting at the table wrapped in a towel.   
"Oh god, what time is it?"   
"It's eight, Barry woke me up and said that you were passed out at the table. I thought you would be awake by the time I got ready, but, you weren't."   
"I'm sorry Dan. I just, I'm tired."   
"It's fine darling, do you want to stay here? Or I can wait for you to get ready and you can come with."   
"No, I'll just stay. I'll just sleep all day anyway."   
"My baby is making my baby tired, don't worry, nine more months and it'll all be over with." He smiled. Was that supposed to be reassuring? It wasn't.   
"Yay me! Well, you better head out. Don't want you to be late."   
"Alright baby, just call me if you need anything. I love you."   
"I love you too, have fun."   
Dan kissed me and Barry waved goodbye, then they were gone.


	5. Home Alone

I traded the towel for a robe and started looking through the cabinets. There was nothing but cereal and ramen noodles. We always either ate with Suzy and Arin or we ordered out. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the cereal and walked over to the couch and clicked on the TV. I surfed through the channels and stopped on some cooking channel. I ate the cereal and scrolled through my phone, occasionally looking up at the screen to see what the people were doing.   
"__ you haven't called me in a while are you okay?" It was my mom, I had told her everything, except the most important part about me getting shot, but I was fine now, so it's not important anymore.   
"Sorry mom, just been a little busy."   
"Busy like how? What do you mean busy?"   
"Just busy, there's a lot going on right now."   
"Like what? You don't tell me anything anymore."   
"I'm pregnant mom. That's what's going on."   
"How pregnant?"   
"A month... Like 6 or 7 weeks."   
"How does Danny feel about it?"   
"Not the way I thought he would feel. He's happy. Well, excited would be a better way to describe it."   
"How are you feeling?"   
"Tired."   
"Ahh, the joys of pregnancy! Dontcha love it."   
"Totally, it's a blast!"   
"Well, you should get some sleep, enjoy all the sleep you can get. After these nine months you aren't going to be getting much."  
"Alright mom, thanks for the helpful advice!"   
"That's what I'm here for. Love ya."   
"Love you too." 

Everyone's reactions are totally different from what I thought they would be. I was expecting my mom to totally ream my ass and tell me that getting pregnant after only a month was stupid. Well, now I'll constantly have to update her and send her ultrasound pictures, she'll be expecting them.   
I yawned and put the cereal box on the floor next to the couch and turned off the tv. Maybe a small nap would be good, then I can clean the house. The boys would be happy to come back to a clean house after a long day of grumping. I'll order some food too. Yeah! That would be nice.   
I propped up the throw pillows and grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped myself in it and fell asleep. 

 

My phone was vibrating on the coffee table. I grabbed it and tried to read the screen. The screen was bright and my vision was still kind of blurry. I blinked a few times and saw that I had six missed calls from Dan and a butt ton of texts. It was two in the afternoon, I slept a lot longer than I planned.   
I called Dan and put it on speaker as I picked up the cereal box to put it away.   
"__, are you alright?"   
"Yes Dan, I'm perfectly fine. You worry about me too much."   
"I'm obviously going to worry about my pregnant girlfriend, especially since you're alone and you probably didn't lock the door behind us when we left."   
I looked over at the door and saw that it was still unlocked and bit my lip.   
"Well, I'm still here, and I'm fine."   
"It took you forever to call me back though."   
"I was sleeping. Pregnant people need to sleep."   
"I know I know. I'm messing with you babe. So is that all you did?"   
"Up to right now, yes. It was only supposed to be a little nap, but I slept a lot longer. Now I'm cleaning though and I'm gonna order some food."   
"Don't over work yourself. Do you want me to come home for a little bit?"   
"No no, go have fun."   
"I miss you though. I'm not used to being apart this long."   
I sighed, he was right. We haven't been away from each other for more than an hour, two tops, since what happened.   
"I know, but, you'll be home soon, right?"   
"Four more hours, unless you want me home sooner. Me and Arin can continue recording tomorrow."   
"You don't have to."   
"I want to."   
"It's up to you baby."   
"Alright, well, I should be back in an hour then."   
"Is Barry coming back too?"   
"Nope."   
"So, we'd be alone?"   
"Mmhm... Are you suggesting-"   
"Well if you want to..."   
"Alright, I'll be back in thirty minutes, let me just call Arin and... I'll be there!"   
I stood there for a couple minutes... Then I realized that I probably looked like complete shit.   
I ran to the bathroom and ruffled my hair and brushed my teeth. When I was done I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. Trying to look calm was not easy. I was nervous. It was like the first time all over again. I wondered if it would always be this way for me. I felt like there were butterflies in my stomach, it made me sick, or it could just be the baby.   
The door knob turned and Dan walked in. He quickly shut it behind him and ran over to me.


	6. Changes

He flopped down on the couch and pulled me into his lap and began kissing me. Soft at first, becoming more and more passionate, I could feel the force behind the kiss. I pulled away to breathe and he caressed my face before dropping his hand.   
"Do you want to go to the bedroom?" He looked seductively at me, but I couldn't take him seriously.   
"Can we just cuddle? I'm not really in the mood for, you know..." I looked down and sniffled. Dan pulled me closer to him and kissed the top of my head.   
"What's wrong baby?" He tilted my head to look up at him. I closed my eyes and shook my head.   
"God dammit, just tell me."   
"No, it doesn't matter."   
"Yes it fucking does!"   
"Why?"   
"Because I love you and I don't want you to be sad. Now tell me!"   
"You're going to find my pregnancy unattractive and you're gonna leave me."   
"That was the stupidest thing you've said. Why would you ever even think that?"   
"I don't know, I just... It just came to me in the shower."   
"Well, don't believe yourself, I'm not letting you go. Not now, not ever. I love you."   
"But I'm going to be fat and-"   
"No, you're going to be pregnant and stunningly beautiful. I honestly can't wait for you to get bigger, you'd look amazing with a baby bump."   
"You're lying to make me feel better, aren't you?"   
He shook his head and pulled me off the couch and led me towards the bathroom, and stood me in front of the mirror.   
"Look at yourself. I know you don't see it, but what I see is the most beautiful, outstanding, wonderful women in the world. Even now, with no makeup, and your hair unbrushed, I wouldn't want to be with anyone else in the world."   
"But how about when I get super fat?" I put my hands on my stomach and looked up at Dan.   
"Well, when you get super pregnant, there will just be more of you to love and more of you to find beautiful, and most of all, more of you to adore."   
He kissed the top of my head and turned me around to look at him.   
"___, I promise to love you, and be there for you, for as long as you want me. I don't know what I would do without you, and now you're having my baby-"  
"Don't you start singing that damn song again."   
"Alright fine, but, please believe me when I say, I'm not going anywhere, not now, not ever."   
I smiled and leaned my head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around me. I felt loved and wanted by Dan. I haven't felt that with anyone else that I've been with. But what I felt now, it was warm and it pulsates through my body. I never wanted to lose the feeling. I never wanted to lose Dan.


	7. The Second Month

I woke up to hear Danny arguing with somebody, and due to the long waits between Dans angry phrases and the utter silence to go along with the waits, I realized that he must have been on the phone.   
I got out of the bed and put on my robe and slippers and walked out of the bedroom as quietly as I could.   
Dan was leaning against the counter in the kitchen. He ran his hand through his hair and slammed his hand down on the counter.   
"I can't do it that day, you don't understand."  
There was a long pause, then Dan ended the call and slammed the phone down. The noise made me jump, and Dan finally noticed I was standing here.   
"Did I wake you? I'm sorry, just stupid people."   
I walked over to him and he leaned down to kiss me. I got myself a cup of milk and sat at the table. He sat at the other end and dropped his head. His face was curtained by his hair.   
I reached out to touch his hand and he sighed loudly.   
"It's just that, the recording studio called and they said that the only day that me and Arin can go in to record the last song for Starbomb is the fifth."   
"Of October? This month?" That was the day of my first doctors appointment. Dan had been really excited about being there and seeing the baby for the first time.   
"Yeah, and apparently that's the only day that's free. The next opening will be in December, and that's when we plan on releasing the album."   
"You don't need to go to the appointment Dan. I'll ask Suzy or Holly to drive me, and they can stay with me."   
"No, this is bullshit!" He slammed his fists on the table and got up. I instinctively wrapped my arms around my stomach protectively.  
"Dan, please. Just listen. It's going to be an internal exam anyway, and I can bring home the ultrasound pictures. I'll tell you all about it."   
He sat back down and grabbed my hands and looked at me.   
"I just.. This was really important to me. The first appointment, the first pictures... I wanted to be there."   
"I know you did, but there's going to be so many more appointments, and you can go to those ones."   
I smiled at him and he smiled back and kissed the back of my hand. Seeing just how important this pregnancy was to him made me more hopeful and excited about the future


	8. The Waiting Room

Dan drove me to the doctors, the ride consisted of him complaining about how much bullshit it was that he couldn't come to the first appointment and me reassuring him that it would be okay.   
He walked me up to the main entrance, kissed me goodbye, then ran back to the car.   
I had told him that I would ask Suzy or Holly to take me, but he insisted on driving me to the appointment. Now I had the opportunity to sit in the waiting room for thirty minutes or more.   
My appointment was scheduled for twelve o'clock, but due to his persistent attitude, and the fact that the recording studio also scheduled him and Arin to be in at twelve, he dropped me off at 11:30.   
I walked up to the reception desk and an older lady greeted me with a smile.   
"Hi, I'm ___ ___, I'm here for the twelve o'clock appointment with Dr. Gardner."   
"Alright Ms. ___, is this your first appointment?"   
"Yes ma'am."   
"Okie dokie, well, you need to fill out these papers, and then bring them back up to me when you're done, and then the doctor will call you back."   
I nodded and she gave me a clipboard and a pen.   
I sat in the waiting area at the furthest end. Most of the women there were with their husbands or boyfriends. It made me feel lonely.   
A couple minutes later another girl walked in by herself. She looked about six months along, but she didn't look happy. She sat down two seats away from me.   
I decided to talk to her, I knew what it was like to have to sit alone.   
"Hi there, how are you?"   
She looked up at me and then back down at her hands.   
"Hey, don't be sad. My boyfriend couldn't make it today either."   
"I don't have a boyfriend. He left when I told him I was pregnant."   
"I... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"   
"No, it's fine. No one ever really talks to me when I come here. All the husbands talk to each other and the mothers talk to the other mothers. Nobody wants to talk to the teenage pregnant girl."   
"Hey now, that's not true at all. I'm talking to you. How old are you?"   
"I'm 17."   
"Are you in school?"   
"No... I dropped out to go live with my boyfriend. He was 19 at the time and I had just turned 16. My parents were against it, but I did it anyway. I should have listened. I lived with him for a year, and then I got pregnant. That's when he decided to just stop loving me, and that's when I realized that he never did. He never said it, and he never showed it, and I never felt it. I had to go back to my parents house. I wanted to get an abortion but, they're strictly against it, and they wouldn't take me to go get one. So, now here I am, eight months into my pregnancy, I have to meet with the adoptive parents every other week to talk about how my pregnancy is going and if I'm staying healthy and to go over the legal terms, and now I'm starting to think that I want to keep the baby, but I'd have no where to go and no way to take care of her. I'm sorry..."   
"Don't be sorry. Look, I know that you're scared and upset, but look at it this way. One day, somewhere down the road, you're going to meet someone, and they're going to be perfect, and amazing, and they're going to love you, and they're not even going to be able to go an hour without you. Then hopefully you can start a family with them, and they're not going to leave you, and you won't have to be scared anymore. Everything will fall into place, you just have to believe in yourself, and you have to have faith."   
"Is that what happened to you?"   
"Yes it is."   
The doctor called out a name and the girl stood up. She smiled down and me and said thank you, then walked out of the waiting room. I hadn't even gotten her first name. I hope that everything will get better.


	9. The Appointment

The doctor called out my name and I awkwardly stood up to go back.   
"Hello Ms. ___, how are you today?"   
"A little nervous honestly."   
"Well it's okay to be nervous. Is this your first pregnancy?"   
"Yes it is, it's also my first appointment."   
"Well I'll explain everything as I do it, alright?"   
The doctor led me into a medium sized room with cabinets lining one side of the wall and big flat screen tv on another wall that the bed was facing. The ultrasound machine was underneath the tv and the doctor wheeled it over next to the bed.   
"Please, lay down. I'm going to ask you a few questions before we begin, alright?"   
"Okay."   
"When was the first day of your last period? This will help us determine the gestational age of the baby."   
"Uhm, well it was July 20th."   
"Well, that would make you about eleven weeks in, meaning that your second trimester starts in two weeks. Isn't that exciting!"   
"Yeah, I'm really happy."   
"Well, today I'm going to do a Nuchal Screening, so if you could just lift your shirt a little, we can get started."   
"Alright, Uhm, what's a Nuchal Screening?"   
"Well, I'm going to use the ultrasound to check if there are any problems with the baby, may it be Down's syndrome, or just any chromosomal abnormalities."   
I nodded and sighed. I wish I hadn't asked, now I was worried. I know that the chances aren't very high, but it didn't stop me from thinking the worst.   
Dr. Gardner started up the ultrasound machine and squirted a clear, cold gel onto my stomach. She pulled out a wand looking thing and used it to spread the gel out over my abdomen.   
The picture that showed up on the ultrasound screen also showed on the flat screen on the wall. I watched closely and saw the babies arms move around and the little feet kicking.   
Dr. Gardner payed very close attention to the babies neck and how the back arched. Then she did a few more scans, and after they were over she looked down at me and smiled.   
"Your baby is perfectly fine and healthy. The heartbeat is strong. Everything is alright."   
I released a sigh of relief.   
"Thank you doctor."  
"Would you like to take home some pictures?"   
"Oh, yes please."   
She pushed a few buttons, then left the room. After a couple minutes she came back and handed me a long sheet of paper that consisted of about five pictures of the baby.   
I hadn't noticed that the doctor had left the room again, but she came back in the room holding a black bag. She placed it on the bed next to me and unzipped it, pulling out the different items in the bag and explaining what they are.  
"These are prenatal vitamins. There are enough in here to last you this whole month. Take one every morning when you wake up before breakfast." There were several mini packets of pink pills that she pulled out of the bag and set aside.   
Then she pulled out a book, it looked like a spiral notebook, but as she flipped through the pages and showed me it, I saw that it was a guide to pregnancy and it showed how the baby was growing and changing every week. It had little spots where I could write down what I was eating and how I was feeling.   
She neatly put everything back into the bag and told me to meet the receptionist in the main lobby when I was ready to go, then she walked out.   
I grabbed my bag, got up and left the room. Today was nice, and I hadn't realized how amazing it would be to see my child for the first time, but I understand now how not being here would be upsetting for Dan.   
I walked over to the reception desk and the receptionist smiled up at me.  
"Alright Ms. ___, we'll call you sometime in the next week or so, and we'll schedule your next appointment."  
I nodded and walked out the front doors, and walked over to a bench underneath a tree.   
I pulled out my phone and checked the time. It was three o'clock, and I had two texts from Dan.   
One text was "Hey babe, just letting you know I made it to the studio, I shouldn't be in long, just let me know when you're done and I'll come get you. I love you."  
The other text was "Hey lovely, I'm done at the studio, it's 2:45, so I'm on my way. Just call me when you're done so I can get you, I want to know how everything went! I love you."   
I dialed Dans number and he immediately picked up.   
"How'd it go? Did you get pictures? What did I miss?"   
"Sh sh, I'll tell you when I'm in the car. I'm starving, can we get food?"   
"Of course, anything for my babies. I'll be there in like thirty minutes."


	10. A Long Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Dans Point of View)

It was a long drive to the doctors office from the recording studio. It's halfway across town and the traffic is horrible.   
I feel like shit, missing ___'s first doctors appointment, and she shouldn't be trying to make excuses for me. It's not alright that I missed it, and her saying that it's alright makes me feel even worse. I know that she's upset about it, but what can I do? I have fans everywhere expecting the Starbomb album on a certain day, I have to do grump sessions, then I have to work on NSP with Brian.   
It's not like I'm not excited about being a father, because I am. I've always wanted to be a dad, I'm going on 36 years old and I can't wait forever to have my first child. I didn't expect it to be this hard though, and this is just the first appointment. I can't even blame the recording studio though, that date has been set up since before ___ even got to California. I didn't know I was going to get her pregnant, I didn't know that her first doctors appointment would be scheduled for that day.   
I love ___, I really do, I want to be with her for the rest of my life. I just wish that I would have been more careful and that I could have prevented this from happening. We didn't plan this, there was never any talk of children. I mean, shit man, I don't even have my own place yet. I can't expect Barry to be okay with a baby crying during the night, I can't just throw that on him. 

I pulled up in front of the office and saw her sitting there, she was holding a roll of paper and smiling at it. She looked beautiful, and when she looked up and saw me she turned the roll of paper around and ran over to the car. I've never seen her more happy than she is right now.   
"Look Danny, see. There's the little hands, and in this picture his feet are up in the air. Oh if only you could have seen him in real time. He was moving around so much. I can't wait until I can feel him move. Dr. Gardner said that everything is perfectly fine, and his heart beat is normal and he's healthy. She also said I'm about eleven weeks pregnant and I'll start my second trimester in two more weeks."   
God, the way she talked about the baby, the way her eyes lit up and how a big grin spread across her face whenever she looked at the pictures. How could I think that this baby was a mistake? How could I think that, seeing the way it made her smile, it was a horrible thought. I would never wish away this baby, I'll just have to find a way to work through things. I'll do whatever it takes to keep her happy.   
"Hey Dan, can I get a cheeseburger?"


	11. Over for Dinner

I didn't get my cheeseburger after my doctors appointment which was kind of sad, I really wanted a cheeseburger. Instead Dan accepted to go over to Arin and Suzy's place for dinner, without me knowing, and now I'm having spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner, which would be great, if I was in the mood for it, but I'm not, which is why I'm pretty irritated.   
I really just wanted to go home and talk to Dan about the baby and the doctors appointment, but now I'm going to get bombarded with questions by everyone. It's not that I don't want them to be interested in my pregnancy, it's awesome that they care so much, it's just that I'm tired and craving cheeseburgers.   
"They're really excited to see you, they want to know how everything went." Dan broke the silence, I hadn't been paying attention, but as I looked out the window I realized that we were sitting outside of Arin and Suzy's house.   
"Yeah, I know." I grabbed my purse and opened the door to get out. Dan hurried and got out and ran to catch up with me.   
"What is wrong?" He stopped me before I could reach the door. He was holding my arm and I pulled away from him.   
"Nothing, just tired."   
"Why didn't you tell me, we could have stayed home tonight."   
"I don't know Dan, maybe it's because you didn't inform me that we were going over here tonight. You kind of just threw it at me, and I didn't want to be a bitch and-"   
The front door opened and Barry was standing in the door way. The light behind him cast his shadow out on the sidewalk.   
"Hey guys, I thought I heard talking out here. Come on in, dinners almost done."   
I walked up the stairs and as soon as I walked through the door the smell of meat and sauce and garlic enveloped me. My throat burned with the acid that had tried to force its way up but I swallowed back down. I covered my mouth and nose, trying to block the smell out. I ran to the bathroom and slammed the door behind me and locked it. I couldn't hold it in anymore, I hurriedly lifted the toilet seat and threw up.   
As the pounding in my ears slowly faded, it was replaced with the sound of frantic knocking on the door.   
"___, are you okay? Please open the door." It was Dan, and although I'd love to blame him for my vomiting, I knew he was only trying to be nice by accepting the invitation to come over. He didn't know that I would get nauseated, he just doesn't understand, and I can't get mad at him for not understanding.  
"I'm fine, just give me a second."   
"Can I please just come in? Everyone's worried."   
I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, I was sweating and my throat burned from throwing up. My knees were shaky, but I unlocked the door and let Dan in. I was expecting to see everyone waiting outside the door with him, but surprisingly it was only him.   
He rushed in and pulled me into his arms. Although I was irritated, I instinctively wrapped my arms around him.   
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know that you would get sick. Do you want to go back home?"   
"No, that would just be rude."   
"Are you sure? I think they'd understand."   
"Dan, I'm fine. I just need to gargle some water, I'll be good."   
"Alright, well, I'll just wait outside the door."   
I nodded and he left, shutting the door behind him.   
I cupped my hands to get some water and rinsed my mouth out. I didn't help to soothe the burning of my throat, but it got rid of the foul taste on my tongue.   
I opened the door and saw Dan leaning against the wall staring down at the floor. When he looked up and saw me he smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back.   
We walked to the table together and everyone smiled when they saw us, almost as if that hadn't happened. It felt like I was in the bathroom for an hour, but realistically I was only in there for about ten minutes.   
Dan and I sat down and then the questions began. 

~~~

I wasn't expecting to stay as long as we did, but I have to admit, it was nice.  
After dinner was done and all cleaned up, we all sat in the living room and talked. Dan and the guys talked about pretty much everything, my pregnancy, video games, the starbomb album, etcetera.   
Holly, Suzy and I talked about the baby and my pregnancy and the doctors appointment, and how I was feeling.   
Everyone wanted to look at the ultrasound pictures, and then we talked about whether we thought it was a boy or a girl.   
We didn't get to talk about the names we picked out yet, but Suzy promised that we'd talk about it next time we all got together.   
The night had started pretty bad, but I wouldn't change it. I had a great time and I honestly can't wait to do it again. 

Barry pulled in the driveway next to Dan and we all got out together. It was 11:30 pm and thankfully there wasn't a grump session tomorrow, so we'd get to sleep in. We all walked in together and Barry quickly retired to his room.   
"Can I talk to you?" Dan asked as I was getting a glass of water. The question scared me, but I nodded.   
"When I was driving to pick you up earlier, I was thinking."   
"Thinking about what?"   
"The baby and everything, just, I was thinking that I had made a giant mistake, and for a second I had wished that it never happened and that you never had gotten pregnant."   
A lump formed in my throat, I was on the verge of tears. How could he possibly think that? He seemed so excited when I told him. What happened that could change his mind?   
"Well, I'm sorry that I am, I can't really do anything about it. I'm going to bed, goodnight." I turned to walk away, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.   
"You didn't let me finish. When I saw how happy you were sitting on that bench, looking at the pictures, I realized that I was wrong. I was just scared, I mean, with all the work that I have and the grumps and my music I didn't think that I would be able to be a part of the babies life and I didn't want to be that kind of father. But seeing you, and seeing our baby in those pictures, I would do anything for you and the baby. You both mean more to me than anything in the world. I love you so much, and I promise you, I'm going to be the best father that I can be."   
I started crying and he pulled me against his chest and kissed the top of my head repeatedly.   
I looked up at him, his eyes were glossy and there was a tear running down his cheek. I wiped it away and he smiled.   
"I love you Dan."   
"I love you too ___, let's go to bed."


	12. The Third Month

Dan hasn't been around much the past week or so, him and Arin have been signing CD's and getting ready to ship them out, so he comes home pretty late at night and leaves early in the morning before I wake up. He's been trying hard to get everything in order before my next doctors appointment, so Suzy and Holly have been hanging around a lot more to keep me company.   
This month we've all been trying to think of baby names. My next doctors appointment we're going to find out the gender. Dan, Barry, and Holly think I'm having a girl, while me and everyone else think I'm having a boy. Whenever we all get together we debate baby names and what names sound the best with different middle names.   
We finally decided on Arden Alexander for a boy and Charlotte Lee for a girl. Everyone thought the names were great and having a name picked out for her or him makes it seem more real.   
Dan tries to spend time with me whenever he can, and when he is here we're either looking at apartments or baby furniture.   
We found an apartment that's only a few blocks away from the one him and Barry share now.   
We have a date set up to check out the apartment next week two days before my doctors appointment, it has two bedrooms which will be perfect for when the baby comes. The rent isn't very expensive either, so we're practically sold, all we have to do now is see it. 

Dan was working with Arin today, so Suzy and Holly decided that I needed a girls day out. I had my hair and makeup done and at this point I was wearing anything that fits me. I hadn't really noticed the change, but I had gotten a little bigger, my stomach had begun to protrude, not much, but it was noticeable to everyone else. It made me feel a little self conscious, but the only persons opinion that mattered the most to me was Dan's, and he said that my slight baby bump was adorable and he loved it, so that was the most important thing. 

I was in the midst of straightening up when I heard a light knock at the door.   
"Come in!" I shouted and the door opened quickly. Suzy and Holly walked in and sat down at the table.   
"Guess what we're doing today!" Holly said, Suzy was smiling widely. I shrugged and continued to pour them some drinks.   
"Silly, we're going shopping! Doesn't that sound fun?" Suzy sounded excited when she said it, I'm guessing that it was her idea.   
"You guys, I don't have the money to go shopping right now. Dan and I still have to buy baby furniture and clothes and diapers and just, I don't have the money for that." I was never really a big shopper anyway, I just wasn't into that kind of stuff. My usual wardrobe was skinny jeans and a t-shirt, but now I wear mostly sweatpants and lose fitting t-shirts, but to doctors appointments I wear black yoga pants and the best looking shirt I can find that fits.   
"___, you don't have to pay for the clothes, we're buying them for you. You're only going to get bigger, you need clothes that fit." Holly sounded sincere, I just felt bad. I knew that they wouldn't take no for an answer though.   
I nodded and we all got up and left. Suzy was driving and no one would tell me where we were going. I mean, it's not like they had to tell me, I'm pregnant, and the only store with decent maternity clothes is Motherhood. I've been looking up maternity clothes, but everything is so pricey, which is why I feel like complete shit having Suzy and Holly buy me them.   
When we pulled up to the mall, Suzy and Holly quickly got out of the car, I moved sluggishly, but they were super impatient so they each grabbed one of my arms and pulled me towards the mall entrance. 

~~~~~

I ended up being right, we went to Motherhood and although I only wanted a shirt and a pair of jeans with the elastic belly band, Suzy and Holly decided to go on a massive shopping spree for me.   
They spent at least $300 dollars or more on maternity flannels and jeans and dresses, and I love the clothes, I'm happy that I have nice stuff to wear, I just don't know how I'm going to pay them back.   
We spent at least two hours at the mall, Suzy and Holly did some shopping for themselves, and then we ate, and then we walked around a little more. It wasn't until Arin called Suzy and said that him and Dan were done that we all decided that it was time to go.   
Suzy dropped Holly off first, and then I decided that Arin, Suzy, Dan and I hang out for a little while and talk about what we did today.   
Suzy and I showed Dan and Arin the clothes we got, something that they were both very interested in. Dan enjoyed whispering things in my ear about how he'd love to take the clothes off me and a bunch of other stuff along those lines.   
After an hour or so of goofing off and Dans seductive and sexual whispering, Dan decided that it was time to go home.   
Barry was spending the night at the Grump Space tonight so he could finish editing an episode of Steam Train that him and Ross had just done, so me and Dan would have the apartment to ourselves.   
I was feeling a little bit frisky tonight, something I hadn't felt in the last two months, so when Dan parked the car I quickly unhooked my seatbelt and climbed onto his lap and straddled him.   
"___, what are you doing?" He looked shocked, I hadn't been like this since I found out I was pregnant, so it's been three months since anything like this has happened.   
"I want you Dan, what else do you think I'm doing?"   
"Well, let's get into the house first, and then we can continue this. I don't want you to get cramped up or anything."   
He opened the door on his side and I awkwardly got out.   
We walked up together and as soon as we were inside and the door was shut and locked he picked me up and started kissing me. It was a passionate kiss, I hadn't thought about it until this moment, but I missed these kisses, I missed these types of moments.   
I wrapped my legs around him and he carried me to the bedroom and carefully laid me down on the bed. He stood up and started taking his clothes off, starting with his shirt, and then he unhooked his belt.   
I felt tingly inside, I needed to touch him, I needed him to touch me. I sat up and ran my hands up and down his chest, and then slowly further down, and I unbuttoned his pants. My hands were shaking, my breathing was heavy, I wanted him more than anything.   
I pulled his pants down and that's when he finally moved. He gently pushed me back down on the bed, then he started working on taking my clothes off, all the while kissing and biting my neck, and trailing his lips along my jaw line.   
He removed my shirt and then he pulled off my pants and my underwear.   
Everything was moving so fast it seemed. One second he was removing my clothes, and then the next second he was inside me.   
This sex was different, it wasn't like the other times. Every move, every thrust, every sound he made, it was like nothing I've ever felt before.   
He held me close against his chest, I could feel his heart beating fast, and the way his lips felt against mine, and the breath that would escape his mouth every time he thrusted into me, it was like tiny bursts of electricity that would travel through my body, I couldn't think straight. Everything felt different, it was like a completely different experience this time.   
I felt myself tightening up around him, my body started shaking and his breathing became labored. He thrusted himself into me one last time and then it was over.   
He rolled off of me and laid on his side, pulling me against him. He kept his hand on my stomach, and I felt safe and I felt loved like never before.


	13. Gender Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Dans Point of View)

This week has been so fucking busy, finishing up the Starbomb album signing, checking out the new apartment and finalizing the lease for the apartment, it's just been so hectic. But finally the day is here, we get to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl.   
___ said that the baby has been moving a lot, so we're hoping that doesn't make it hard for the doctor to see what the baby is.   
The doctors appointment wasn't scheduled until this afternoon, so ___ and I went out for lunch. She looked so beautiful today, and all the guys were staring at her. She didn't notice, but I was getting extremely pissed off, like what the hell dudes, can you all not see the bump, she's pregnant and she's mine.   
After lunch we began on our way to the office for the appointment. It was only a couple minutes away, but it seemed like it was taking forever to get there. I got stuck at every red light, and then there was road work going on which held up traffic. I was becoming agitated, but when I would look over at ___ I couldn't help but smile. She was rubbing her belly and smiling, I didn't think it could be possible, but I fall more in love with her every day. 

We got to the office and by the way she looked it seemed like ___ would hop out of the car before I even got parked. But she patiently waited for me to get in the parking spot, and then she practically jumped out of the car and ran over to my side.   
"Come on Dan! No time to wait, I want to know!"   
I hurried and got out of the car and we walked into the office hand in hand.   
The receptionist greeted us, and we were almost immediately called to the back.   
"Mr. Avidan, Mrs. ___, how is everything? I see that you've gotten a little baby bump now, my oh my, they grow so quickly."   
Doctor Gardner was a nice older women, she took care of all the ultrasounds that ___ had.   
"I've been doing great, I can't wait until I know if it's a boy or a girl though."   
"Well that's what you're here for today little lady. You know what to do, let's find out what you're having."   
___ smiled and practically ran over to the bed and laid down. She lifted her shirt up and waited patiently while the doctor was setting up the ultrasound machine. I stood behind ___'s head and stared intently at the flat screen on the wall.  
The doctor squirted the clear gel onto ___ stomach and then an image showed up on the TV screen. The baby had shifted just right so that we could still see the head and face, but we could also immediately confirm the gender. She continued with the ultrasound long enough to get a few good pictures for us to take home, then she turned off the machine, gave ___ a napkin to wipe off her stomach with and wheeled the machine back into place.   
"Well, in case you guys didn't really see what it was, you're having a girl. Congratulations." She smiled and left the room.


	14. Gender Reveal : Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Your Point of View)

We were having a girl, Dan had been right. He was standing above me, he was smiling so wide, it was a shock that his jaws didn't hurt. He had been smiling like that since the ultrasound picture showed up on the tv.   
He walked around the bed to sit by my side and he leaned over and kissed my stomach.  
"Hi Charlotte, I'm your daddy, and I was right. Uncle Arin and Ross and I all knew you were going to be a girl, but Uncle Barry, Aunt Holly, Aunt Suzy, and your mommy thought you were gonna be a boy." He kissed my stomach one last time and then sat up.   
Doctor Gardner walked in with the ultrasound pictures and handed them to Dan.   
"So when's the next ultrasound?" Dan asked, he always asks so that he can plan around that date and he'll be free to come with me.   
"Well, there will be no more ultrasounds until the day you go into labor. But you will come back for monthly tests and exams. We'll constantly check your blood pressure and your weight gain, but since she's growing bigger, she'll just look all squished up in the pictures. Well, you guys are my last patients of the day, so have a great evening, it was nice seeing you all. Your next appointment will be sometime in January during your fifth month, so you'll have all of December to celebrate the holidays and get ready. Well, again, congratulations. I'll see you again in January." She walked out of the room and I felt the sudden urge to cry and I don't know why. She made it seem like I wasn't going to see her again, but I knew that I would in January, it just seemed so far away.   
I pulled my shirt down and Dan helped me off the bed. We walked back to the car and he was still smiling. It looked like he had won the lottery or some type of grand prize.   
"Dan, you haven't stopped smiling since the ultrasound. You're going to get a face cramp." I laughed and he rolled his eyes as he opened my door for me.   
When he got in he sat for a little while, he was thinking. Then he started smiling again and started the car.   
"It's just that, seeing her on the screen, it makes it real for me. In six months she's going to be here, and I'm just so happy. Now we know she's a girl, so not only am I a father, I'm going to be her protector. Nobody, no guy, no one is going to hurt my little girl. It's kind of strange, she's not even here yet, I haven't met her, but she's my daughter, and I already feel the urge to protect her from everything and everyone. Is that weird?" We were at a red light and Dan looked over at me after he was done talking. I thought it was adorable the way he already had that 'Daddy's Girl' protection feeling.   
"It's not weird at all babe, it's actually quite adorable. She's going to be a daddy's girl, I know it." He laughed and placed his hand on top of mine on my belly.   
"I'm gonna spoil her like the little princess that she is."


	15. Moving Day

Dan and I had been packing for about a week, and it was finally time to move. We didn't have many boxes, but there were still too many to fit all of them in Dan's car so Barry decided to help drive our stuff over.  
Dan wouldn't let me carry anything, he was scared that I would strain myself and hurt Charlotte, so I just followed behind them.  
I hadn't been in there since the day we checked out the apartment a month ago, so when I walked in I was shocked to see that it was fully furnished.  
"Dan, when did you do this? How did you do this?" Dan was smiling and pointing to everything like one of the ladies from the price is right.  
"Well, when I was getting the crib for the baby and setting up the room, I realized that I might as well just set up the whole house. It was expensive, but we still have money left over, so don't worry about that. Look, I even got an artificial Christmas tree. I didn't want to decorate it without you, but we can go out and get the ornaments and stuff whenever you want."  
"Dan your Jewish..."  
"Yes, I know, which is why it was really weird and hard for me and Barry to pick out the perfect artificial Christmas tree."  
"What about Hanukkah?"  
"Well, I have the menorah on the dining room table, and you can celebrate your Christmas, and we can just continue to celebrate the last three days of Hanukkah."  
"I could have picked out the Christmas tree though."  
"No, I like surprising you, your face is just adorable."  
Dan had his arms wrapped around me and was kissing my neck, I had completely forgotten that Barry was still here until he cleared his throat.  
"Alright guys, well... I'm gonna just go back home, I'll see you guys later." He waved, me and Dan said bye, and then he was gone.  
"Here babe, I wanna show you something. You'll love it, well I hope you'll love it. Man I worked my ass off trying to get this ready."  
I was confused, excited, and I couldn't see. Dan had his hands over my eyes and was leading me somewhere. I heard a door open and when he uncovered my eyes I was amazed.  
Charlottes room was completely done. The walls were painted a beautiful pastel pink, and her crib was white, there was a rocking chair in the corner next to a bookcase that was stocked with children's books. Her crib blankets were a pastel yellow, pink, and green flower print, and everything was just perfect.  
I walked over to the closet, Dan followed me, keeping his hands on my waist. When I opened the closet it was empty, we hadn't bought many clothes for Charlotte yet, and the ones that we had gotten were all packed up with my clothes, but the closet was big enough for all the stuff I planned on getting for her.  
I turned around and wrapped my arms around him. Everything was just so perfect, I couldn't believe it.  
"Let's go to our room now, shall we?" He gave me a lopsided grin and grabbed my hand.  
I remembered the room from when we were checking out the house last month. It was the bigger room of the two and it had a walk in closet. But when Dan opened the door to the room I was completely shocked. It didn't even look like the same room. There was a queen sized bed on a beautifully carved mahogany bed frame. Across from the bed there was a beautiful oval shaped, creme colored, bassinet.  
"I didn't really know if you wanted one of those but, in all the magazines and stuff they had one, so I just thought that we needed both..."  
"Dan it's perfect. You're perfect."  
"No, I just want the best for my babies."  
"And you've given us the best we could have ever asked for." 

~~~~~~~

Being in the new apartment was delightful. Dan and I ordered pizza and sat down to enjoy a nice movie. It was starting to get late so Dan helped me clean up. Although it was nice to be in a new apartment, and I loved the thought of being alone with Dan in our own home, but it would take some time to get used to.  
After we cleaned up dinner we relaxed and waited for nightfall so we could light the menorah. He wanted to include me in his Jewish traditions, and although I didn't fully understand what was going on, I gladly participated in each night of Hanukkah. We hadn't given gifts, Dan had said that Charlotte and I were the best gifts he could have ever gotten. We didn't really follow the Hanukkah meal traditions because Dan was always busy at the Grump Space and working on new Ninja Sex Party songs, and I didn't know how to make latkes or sufganiyot. We still lit the menorah though, each night at sunset. We would take turns each night using the shamash to light each candle. After lighting the candles Dan hums Hanerot Halalu. I finally got the tune down, and now I quietly hum along with him.  
We keep the candles lit for a half hour, and then we retire to bed for the night.  
Tonight after everything was done and Dan and I were in bed we talked about Charlotte and the holidays and how they would be for her. We wanted her to celebrate Jewish holidays and all the holidays I grew up with so that she wouldn't miss out on anything or have to be excluded from parties when she's in school. It was nice to plan all these things out, and although some people would think that it's weird or wrong to raise a child that follows Dan's family traditions and my family traditions, we only want the best for her and we feel like this would be the best.


	16. Christmas

Although Dan doesn't celebrate Christmas, I still wanted to get him a little something for the holiday so that he wouldn't feel left out. I ended up buying him a giant bag of skittles, a shaving kit, and a couple t-shirts and a pair of jeans. I didn't know what else to get him, but he seemed happy opening up the gifts, so I'm guessing I did a good job.   
Next was my turn to open presents, Dan had tried his best to wrap them for me, and although the wrapping job wasn't the best, it's the thought that counts.   
He had gotten a lot of clothes for Charlotte, most of them said things like "Daddy's Girl" or "Daddy's Little Princess" and stuff like that. He got her cute little booties and a couple hats.   
He got me some yoga pants and stretchy t-shirts so that I would be more comfortable. I was getting further along in my pregnancy and I never feel like getting dressed up anymore unless I really need to.   
Today was one of those days, Dan and I were going over to the Grump Space, everyone was meeting up there to exchange gifts, and then they were all going to come over to our new apartment to have a turkey dinner. 

It was hard to to pick clothes that were classy and festive but also comfortable, so I went with a pair of my dark blue denim skinny jeans with the belly band and a dark plain red t-shirt. I wore a pair of light brown moccasins, they were the only shoes comfortable enough for me to wear right now and I loved them. My makeup was light and I had curled my hair.   
When I stepped out of the bathroom I saw Dan organizing all the gifts that we had bought for everyone else. We had tried to get everyone two things that they would like and then a gag gift. He turned around and saw me standing right outside the bathroom door and he quickly got up and walked over to me. He ran his hands down my body, from my shoulders to my butt, and back up all the way so that my face was between his hands. He leaned down to kiss me, then he lightly dropped his hands to my stomach. I was getting bigger every day it seemed, and not only my stomach, but my boobs had gotten bigger too. Dan loved that though, he said it was an added bonus to the already rad package deal.   
I hadn't told him yet that whenever he puts his hands on my stomach or whenever he sings she moves. I can feel her move all the time. It's like she's doing somersaults, and kick-boxing all at the same time. It's an amazing feeling, but also very nauseating at times.   
He kissed me one last time and then he grabbed the bags full of wrapped gifts-that he wouldn't let me help carry-and I grabbed the keys and a nice little jacket for if I got chilly.   
The coldest it was going to get today was the same temperatures that I would feel in the fall back home. It would take a while to get used to warm Christmases, it just didn't feel right. 

On the way to the Grump Space I messaged my mom, I constantly have her weekly updates about my pregnancy and how everything is going here. I gave her a tour of mine and Dans new apartment. She loved it and she can't wait to visit sometime. I sent her a Christmas present, it was a necklace and bracelet set for a mother and daughter. She got the necklace and I have the bracelet. I paid extra money for the package to be delivered to her by or before Christmas Eve so that she could open it this morning.   
She was probably spending time with the rest of the family, so I didn't want to keep her away from them for too long, so I just asked her if she liked the present and told her that I love her, and Merry Christmas.   
I turned up the radio a little bit and changed the station to Christmas music. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was just ending, and then Jingle Bell Rock came on and I just had to sing along. I think it shocked Dan, I was completely silent the first ten minutes of the car ride and then suddenly I'm basically screaming the lyrics.   
"Holy shit ___! Are you trying to get into a car accident!?" He seemed frustrated and I quickly shut up and turned off the radio.   
"I-I'm sorry." I felt like I was about to cry, even during a heated argument he doesn't yell at me like that.   
He sighed and shook his head, he wouldn't even tell me what was going on or why he seemed so pissed off. He seemed fine earlier?   
I didn't say anything the rest of the car ride and when we pulled up to the Grump Space I got out and walked in without him.   
Everyone was sitting around the Christmas tree in the main room. When I walked in they all smiled, but then Dam walked in behind me and their smiles faded. They felt the tension, and I don't even know why the tension is there. I didn't do anything wrong. Not that I know of, I just messaged my mom. That couldn't be the problem.   
Suzy got up and hugged me, everyone else followed after her. After all the hugging was done, Suzy pulled me aside.   
"What's wrong? What happened?" She tried to stay quiet so that no one would hear, although everyone had to know that something was wrong.  
"I don't know, I just started singing in the car and he got mad at me. I was just singing." A tear rolled down from the corner of my eye and she pulled me into a hug.   
Dan abruptly walked in and cleared his throat.   
"Oh hey Dan, me and ____ were just talking about what you got her for Christmas. It was really nice of you to get her that stuff."   
"It was just baby clothes, it's the only thing she seems to want now anyways." He rolled his eyes and walked out of the kitchen.   
"Do you think that he doesn't want me and the baby anymore? He just seems done and I don't-" the tears flowed heavily, they streamed down my face bringing my eyeliner and mascara along. Suzy dabbed the tears away with a napkin, she looked worried, and she didn't have an answer.


	17. A Christmas Nightmare

After a couple of minutes Arin walked into the kitchen. He saw Suzy hugging me and the tears streaks down my cheeks.   
"What's wrong? What's going on?"   
Suzy looked up at him, then looked at me.   
"I have an idea, just, both of you come here real quick."   
Arin, Suzy, and I snuck into the guest bedroom to talk about her plan.   
"Arin, I want you to get Dan to go out with you to get a bottle of wine or something. Is your phone charged?"   
"Yeah of course it is."   
"Alright good, I'm gonna call you and you're gonna keep the phone on and we're gonna listen. You need to find out what is wrong with him."   
"Nothing seems wrong though and that seems a little bit sneaky and rude."  
"Arin! Please. For ___."   
"Ugh, fine."   
Arin pulled out his phone and dialed Suzy's number. She quickly answered and he put the phone in his pocket and left. We listened as Arin asked Dan to go with him.   
"Yeah sure, let's go." Dan said.   
"Do you want to say bye to ____?"   
"No, she'll be fine."   
He won't even say bye to me, what is going on. This morning seemed fine, when did everything change?   
Suzy and I continued listening, when we heard the door shut we left the bedroom and sat back out with everyone else. They all gathered around and listened with us, catching onto the plan. They were all in agreement with Suzy and they wanted to know what was going on. Everyone stayed quiet and listened.


	18. A Christmas Nightmare : Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Arins Point of View)

This was wrong, this was totally wrong man. Like, yeah, I understand why I'm doing it, but why can't anyone just ask him themselves. Well, I'm here now, I gotta figure something out.   
"So, Dan... How's ___'s pregnancy going?" How was I supposed to start this off? I guess that was the best way.  
"It's fine man, why does everyone keep asking me? It's in her stomach, Jesus. I don't know."   
"Woah man, chill. What's the problem? I thought you were happy."   
"I fucked up Arin. She thinks I'm mad at her, I'm fucking not. I'm mad at myself."   
"What do you mean? What happened?"   
"I told her I was out finishing the CD signings with you. I lied, and I just needed some time away from everything. So I went to the bar..."   
"Yeah. And?"   
"And I got drunk, and there was this girl and she was drunk too... And we hooked up."   
"What do you mean you hooked up?"   
"Like we hooked up man, we had sex, in my car. In the fucking car Arin!"   
"Fucking dammit Dan! You have everything, and you just, you fucked up."   
"Yeah I know Arin, thanks! I kinda just said that."   
"Then why are you yelling at ___? You're the one who messed up."   
"Because I just, I want her to be mad at me, but I don't want her to leave me. I can't lose her or Charlotte."   
"Oh man... Oh jeez." 

Fuck man, they're all listening back at the Grump Space. Poor ___, I wonder what she's doing.


	19. A Very Grumpy Christmas

"No, please, end it Suzy, end it please!" What had I listened to? That couldn't be true, that wasn't Dan.   
"___, I'm so sorry, we didn't know that-" Suzy looked shocked. Everyone did. It wasn't like Dan to do that type of stuff. Dan wasn't a cheater, or was he? How could I know. He was the father of my child, but did I really know him? We lived together, but there was no real knowing him other than the fact that he did Game Grumps and Starbomb and Ninja Sex Party. I barely even knew him.   
"Please, Barry, can I go back to your place. I'll sleep on the couch. I don't want to be here when he comes back." Barry nodded and got his and my jackets.   
"We'll come back and get the presents then. Do you want anyone to tell-"   
"No! Don't tell him where I am. Say that Barry got sick or something and had to go home, and I left while you guys were busy. Make something up."   
We left and hurried to the car hoping that Dan and Arin weren't close.   
I got in and Barry quickly drove off. He took the back roads so that Dan and Arin wouldn't see us and we got back to his apartment in ten minutes.   
It had been almost two weeks since Dan and I moved out of here, but it still felt more like home than the other apartment.   
We got out and rushed into the apartment and closed the door.   
The anxiety and stress caused by the whole situation was causing Charlotte to tense up, it made me feel sick. I hadn't eaten anything all day, so I didn't want to throw up, it would burn like hell.   
"____, I'm so sorry, I didn't think Dan was capable of doing something like that, I just didn't think he would ever do it."   
"It's fine, just shocking, makes me sick."   
"You can stay here, the bed is still in your old room, and I'll whip up something. I don't know if anything is open today, maybe we can get Chinese?"   
"Yeah, that'll be good. Thank you so much Barry." I felt like hugging him, so I did. He hugged back and although it wasn't like Dans hugs, it was warm, and I needed it.   
I sat down on the couch and turned on the tv. I flipped through the channels and found one that was playing A Christmas Story all day and stuck with that. Barry walked over and handed me a cup of coffee. I lifted my legs so he could sit down and then laid them back across his lap. 

~~

Barry and I must have dozed off, we were startled awake by a loud banging at the door. I looked over at Barry and he looked just as shocked and confused as I was.   
"Barry open the door! I need to talk to you man!" It was Dan. I jumped up and quietly ran to Barry's room to hide. Barry followed after me and helped me hide, I was in the closet and he covered me in blankets and jackets. It was uncomfortable and hot but I dealt with it. Hopefully he'd just think that I wasn't here and leave. I muted my phone just in case he tried to call.   
I heard the door open and Dans heavy footsteps pacing the living room.   
"I just don't know where she is. She shouldn't be out walking, I mean did she completely forget what happened last time she did this shit!? She was shot, she almost died! God dammit!" I could almost imagine what his face looked like right now. Anger mixed with a hint of worry. Why would he care though? He didn't care enough to not cheat, so why does he care so much about where I am?   
"Did you check your apartment? She could have just went home."   
"How the hell would she get back to the apartment!? My car was still at the Grump Space when I got back, she was gone. And so were you..." His tone was accusing.   
"Dan come on, I'm sick. I came home and drank a cup of coffee. I passed out on the couch. You woke me up."   
"Oh shit, sorry man, I just... Can you help me look for her?"   
"Yeah sure, let me get my jacket."   
"Alright."   
I heard Barry walking quickly to his bedroom. He opened the closet and he looked stressed.   
"Look, I'm gonna text you when we're off my street. Can you walk back to your apartment?"   
I nodded. I knew I would have to go back now. I really wanted to stay here for the night and think, but now I'd have to face Dan.


	20. Christmas Night

I had made it home quickly, I texted Suzy and told her that I was at the apartment. She was worried about me and Charlotte, she didn't want me to get upset or stressed and said she would come get me if I needed her to.   
I decided to tell Dan that I was home, and that I had taken a walk and my phone died, so I just went home to charge it.   
Twenty minutes after the text was sent Dan burst through the door. He looked pissed and every sign of worry that was on his face dissipated and was replaced with pure anger and annoyance.   
"Why the hell did you leave!? I left to get a bottle of wine with Arin and I come back and you're gone. You had me worried sick!"   
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to take a walk."   
"That's it? You just wanted to take a walk? You have me worried for over an hour and a half and all you have to say is you wanted to take a walk!?" He ran his hand through his hair, he looked like he wanted to hit something.   
"I fell asleep while my phone was charging. I'm sorry."   
"What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this isn't a big deal? You could have been hurt!"   
"What's wrong with me!? I already am hurt Dan, not that you care. You only care about yourself."   
"What the fuck does that mean!?" He walked over to me and I backed away.   
"Get away. Don't touch me."   
"What are you doing? Are you cheating on me? Who the fuck is it!? I'll kill them!"   
"Am I cheating on you!? Really? You have some real fucking nerve, you know that?"   
"I don't know what you're talking about..." He backed up and looked down at his feet.   
"You look so guilty right now, you don't even have to say it. I know what you did, you fucked up."   
"Please, can you listen?"   
"No, I'm going to Suzy's and Arin's. Just stay away from me."   
"___ please don't. I made a mistake, I don't want to lose you."   
"Save it. I don't care."   
"____! Can you listen for a minute?"   
"You have 60 seconds, what is it?"   
"I know I fucked up, I made a big mistake. I've been a dick today, I feel horrible. I cheated, I know, and I know that it would be too much to ask you to forgive me right now, but I love you. I was planning on taking you to the coffee shop tonight, the same coffee shop where we met, and I was going to ask you to marry me."   
"Who was she?"   
"What?"   
"Who was the girl?"   
"I don't know, just some drunk girl. She doesn't matter."   
"Why did you lie to me?"   
"I was stressed with all the doctors appointments and Starbomb and I just needed to get away for a bit."   
"Well you got away from it, you got what you wanted."   
I walked past him and he dropped his head in defeat. I got my jacket, walked out and sat outside for a while. I started to cry, this isn't what I wanted. I didn't want to lose him, and he seemed completely devastated. I love Dan, everyone makes mistakes, right? He was drunk, he probably didn't know what he was doing. I don't know what to do now though. If I walk back in then he'll think that he's off the hook, which he totally isn't. But if I go to Suzy and Arin's place he'll probably just go out and do it again.   
I sighed and got up and walked back in. He was at the table, his face was in his hands and I could hear his shaky breathing and his sniffling was loud. It was extremely clear that he was crying. I closed the door, loud enough to let him know I was here. He looked up and blinked a few times. He got up and started to walk towards me. He stopped right in front of me and grabbed my hands.   
"___, I love you more than anything. I fucked up, and it's not okay, I almost lost you because of me being a total idiot. A selfish idiot, and I'm sorry for yelling at you and I'm sorry for hurting you. But I'm going to be here for you, and I'm going to prove it to you that you're the only women that I want ever. I'm going to put a ring on your finger, I'm gonna show you how much you mean to me, and I'm gonna be by your side forever, I don't want anything but this."   
I didn't know what to say, tears silently ran down my cheeks. I wiped them away with the back of my hand.   
"I love you Dan."   
"I love you too ___." He kissed me and leaned his forehead against mine. I pulled away to look up at him. He was smiling and I couldn't help but smile back. His smile was contagious. 

I was laying in bed, Dan was asleep already softly snoring next to me. It was twelve in the morning and I couldn't stop thinking about how crazy this Christmas was. It was definitely one that would never be forgotten by anyone. I almost lost Dan and although I was totally ecstatic that we fixed everything, I couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling that came over me whenever I thought about him cheating or the thought of him doing it again.   
Charlotte was moving around a lot, she was probably trying to get comfortable. I rolled over on my side facing Dan. I kissed his nose softly which made him smile and he wrapped his arm around me. Charlotte stopped moving, she was probably sleeping, something I needed to do. I shifted myself to get more comfortable and drifted off to sleep.


	21. A New Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story is now in 2016, so yay future fanfics!

Dan and I just got done at the doctors. I was happy to see Doctor Gardner, although the appointment wasn't as exciting as the last ones.  
I had a glucose screening today, and oh my god it was horrible. I had to drink some nasty juice and sugar concoction and hold it down for three hours, if I didn't I would have to come back for another test. It was all just to see if I had gestational diabetes, so I forced myself to keep it down and not throw up.  
Things were looking up with Dan and I, although I still had the thought of him cheating in the back of my mind, we were getting through it day by day. He would come back from the Grump Space and kick back and watch movies with me. Charlotte was starting to move around a lot more and she was getting bigger, so occasionally if he was lucky, Dan would be able to feel her move. When he is able to feel her move, his eyes get wide and he smiles up at me.  
He didn't have to be anywhere today so we decided that we'd cook a nice meal at the apartment. We chose country fried steak, mashed potatoes, and corn.  
We had to stop at the store to get the stuff we needed, so we chose the closest one and pulled into the parking lot.  
"Do you want to stay in here, or will you be fine walking around?" Dan squeezed my hand and I squeezed his back.  
"I'll be fine. Let's go." I smiled and opened the door. It was hard to get out of his car now, it was low and my stomach was pretty big now, so getting out put a strain on me and Charlotte. Dan usually had to help pull me up out of the car.  
He grabbed my hand and I used the handle inside the car the pull myself up.  
"I'm gonna need a car thats higher up so you don't have to go through this all the time." He was laughing, but his eyes were serious.  
"I'll be fine baby, just gotta get used to it." I smiled and he kissed my cheek. We walked into the store, our hands were clasped together.  
He pulled over a shopping cart and started pushing it with his one free hand. It swerved and crashed into the fruit display. A couple apples fell and he cursed under his breath. I was about to bend down to grab them off the ground when another hand got there before mine. It was a girl hand and whoever she was, she had long red nails that matched the color of the apple.  
Dan helped me stand back up and the girl was placing the apples back in the stand. I looked her over. She was skinny and had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a red tank top that matched the color of her nails and a dark blue denim jacket and black leggings. Dan was staring down at his feet and the girl was smiling at him.  
"Danny, don't you remember me?" She reached out and ran her hand down his chest. His teeth audibly clenched together and he inhaled deeply through his nose.  
"Hi, I'm Natalie. Me and Dan met at the bar, you must be Dans sister. He told me all about you. How far along are you?" She tried to touch my stomach and I protectively wrapped my arms around it.  
"I'm five months. I should let you and Dan catch up."  
"___, don't. Come on." Dan grabbed my hand and tried to keep me next to him.  
"Look, Natalie. I was drunk, this isn't my sister, this is my girlfriend and she's five months pregnant with my daughter. So I'd rather you just forget anything ever happened." She looked pissed.  
"Fine, but don't come looking for me when you can't handle her shit again." She turned and stormed off. I felt like doing the same thing though.  
"I want to go home, fuck the fucking steak. Just take me home."  
"I told her off, what's wrong now?"  
"You said I was your fucking sister!? Why was I even brought up? You know what, I don't even want to know. Just take me home."  
"Out of all the fucking stores, she was at this one. Life kicked me in the nuts once, and I think everything is getting better and life comes back like 'hey, I got this new pair of boots that I'd like to try out on your nuts.' It's bullshit!"  
"Can we discuss this in the car or maybe back at home, I don't want to make a scene."  
We walked out and Dan tried to help me into the car, I couldn't really resist though. I rolled my eyes as he shut the door and walked around to his side.  
"You know what, I don't even care that you fucked her. But you fucked her in the back of this low riding piece of shit and I am not going to put my baby back there. I will not have her sit in the same damn spot where you cheated on me."  
"Fine, we'll get a new car, we'll get whatever car you want, just, I don't want this to be another Christmas. Everything was going great until she showed up."  
"I'm not getting stressed over this shit again, it upsets Charlotte."  
He sighed and started up the car. The ride home was silent, he better get used to that cause I don't have much to say to him at this point.


	22. Silent Treatment

"____, will you please talk to me? It's been a week and I've gotten nothing."   
I was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. I nodded without looking up at him.   
"What do I have to do to get you to talk to me again?"   
I shrugged and he sat across from me at the table.   
"I sold my low riding piece of shit car. Me and Arin were looking at new cars, family type cars. We found a 2007 Dodge Durango, and I know it sounds old, but, it was really nice. It looked brand new, and it was only nine thousand dollars, but that's really good because in 2007 it would have been like twenty thousand."   
I finally looked up from my cereal and looked at him. He was staring at me and smiling sheepishly.   
"Did you buy it?" His smile grew wider when I actually spoke.   
"Well, I didn't buy it yet, I have it on hold. I wanted you to come in and see it to be sure that you like it."   
"Can I see it today?"   
"Yeah, if you want to, let me just call Arin, he'll drive us."   
I got up and took my bowl to the sink and rinsed it out. I put my hair in a ponytail, not caring how I really looked right now. I was wearing yoga pants, a plain white t-shirt and my trusty moccasins.   
Dan came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, although I felt big as a house, he could still wrap his arms fully around my stomach.   
"You look so sexy right now baby." He kissed my neck, and although I would have loved to give in, I couldn't give him what he wanted.   
"Save it, I'm still pissed."   
He dropped his hands and walked over to the table and pulled out his phone. He sat down and texted Arin.   
"He'll be here in ten minutes to get us."   
"K."   
"Ugh, can we just drop this please? It's been a fucking month and a half now and you're still making me feel like shit. What do you want from me?"   
"I just want you to love me!"   
"I do fucking love you! You know that!"   
"Than prove it!"   
He noisily scooted back his chair and walked over to me. He pushed me against the wall and forcefully kissed me. I couldn't hold myself back this time, I enjoyed it too much. I wrapped my fingers in his hair, holding him to me, making the kiss last longer. One of his hands was against my lower back, his other hand was trailing up underneath my shirt. He grabbed my breast through my bra and squeezed it.   
His phone started vibrating on the table and he sighed. He pulled away from me, I was biting my lip. I didn't know what to say.  
"I love you..." Was all I could say, he smiled.   
"I love you too baby. Arins here though, so we can continue this when we get back home." He gave me a sly smile.   
"That would be nice." I nodded and bit my lip again.   
I don't know how he did it, but no matter how much he pissed me off sometimes, he always made me fall more in love with him in the end.


	23. Yeah In My Durango

Dan and I were sitting in the back of Arin's car, him and Suzy were in the front. There was no awkward tension, everyone was laughing and joking around. Dan had his arm wrapped around my shoulder and I rested my head on his shoulder.  
Arin's car was nice, but the ceilings were pretty low, and Dan had to duck his head just to sit in the back. Suzy had offered up her seat, but Dan politely declined.   
"You've gotten so big ___, do you feel her move a lot?" Suzy had almost turned her whole body around to look back at me.   
"Oh, she moves a lot. She likes to kick me when I'm comfortable, she's a little bugger, but I love her." I was rubbing my belly, the way I always do when I talk about Charlotte. Dan kissed the top of my head and laughed.   
"So who do you think she'll look like the most?" Arin asked, he was looking in the rearview mirror to look back at me and Dan.   
We had never been asked that question before, and we had never really thought about it.   
"Well, I know that I don't want her to have my nose or my thumbs. But I want her to be short like ___." Dan answered first and laughed, Arin and Suzy laughed with him.   
"Hey now!-"   
"You're an all star, get your game on and go play!" Arin cut me off and Dan fucking lost it. He was snorting, and his laughing went from loud to muted, he was clapping his hands and his laughing vibrated the car.   
"Shut up, oh my god. I was gonna say that I'm not short, Dan is just extremely tall. But it doesn't matter what or who she looks like, she's my baby."   
"You mean our baby, she's our baby, and we love her." Dan squeezed my shoulder and pulled me closer.   
The car ride was silent the rest of the way to the car dealership.   
When we pulled up we all said goodbye and Arin drove off. He was filming an episode of Steam Train today with Suzy and Barry and they were running a little late.   
Dan walked into the dealership and there was an older looking man behind the desk who greeted Dan and I.   
"You both must be lookin' for a nice SUV, or a minivan. You all got a little one on the way."   
"We aren't looking, I have an SUV on hold. A white 2007 Dodge Durango."   
The man nodded, then he turned to his computer and typed a little bit.   
"Ah-ha! I found it. You put the SUV on hold yesterday. It's a nice one, I'll tell ya. Let me take ya to it."   
We followed the man, it was a short walk. The car was in the back amongst other older vehicles. The man wasn't lying though, it was nice. It was a nice bright, shiny white, the windows were slightly tinted.   
The man opened the doors and I climbed inside, and let me tell you, it was a lot easier for me to climb up into the car then it was for me to have to crouch down into Dans old car.   
As I was looking around the interior, Dan was outside with the man talking about specifics.   
"The man who had it before upgraded it. You have heated seats, and the radio is has a wood type panel around it and it's got an aux cord spot. It's very sleek, and it's a nice family car. It's got motorized recliners and seat movers if ya wanna move forward or further back. It's an all around nice SUV."   
I looked it over once more, looking at every minor detail on the inside and outside. There were no scratches or dents. The tires looked brand new.   
"We'll take it." I looked up at Dan and his eyes darted from me, to the man, then back to me.   
"Are you sure ___? We can look at other cars."   
"No, I want this one. It's perfect."   
"Alright then, we'll take this one."   
The man nodded and led us back to the front counter. Dan had to fill out some papers and insurance policies, and then we'd have the keys.   
The old man handed Dan the keys, it's official, it's ours now and I love it.   
As we got into the car and got situated into the new car I was talking about where and how we'd set up Charlottes car seat.   
"I was thinking maybe the middle, so that we'd both have a good view of her, you know?"   
"True, but the car seat will be turned facing the back anyway, so we still wouldn't have a view of her."   
"Why would it be turned facing the back?"   
"Because if we were to get in a car accident, the car seat facing forward would launch her either out the windshield or at the back of our seats. If she's facing the back, she wouldn't be hurt that much."   
"But I'm a safe driver."   
"You may be, but a lot of people aren't."   
"True, that's totally true, I see your point."   
I nodded and he started the car. The engine was quieter than his old car, and it ran a lot smoother. He had his hand on my thigh and squeezed it. I giggled and he trailed his hand further up my thigh and then inwards. I bit my lip and sighed.   
"Dan, you said we'd wait until we got back home."   
"Yeah but the windows are tinted and-"   
"It won't be comfortable for me though."   
He stopped and thought for a while and then moved his hand back down were he had it before.   
"You're right baby, we can wait. How about you turn on some music."   
I nodded and thought for a second about what song to put on. Then it came to me, what better song to put on then Rob Zombies 'Never Gonna Stop'.   
I plugged my phone up to the aux cord and when it started playing Dan slowly started nodding his head a long with the beat. Then I started singing.  
"YEAH IN MY DURANGO! NUMBER 95!"   
The windows were down and the speakers were amazing. Everyone walking down the street turned to look. Dan was laughing and I was happy, I couldn't stop smiling. Charlotte was awake and moving, I guess the song being so loud had woken her up.   
I leaned my head back and took everything in.


	24. Creeper

It was Valentines Day and Dan had something big planned. He was rushing around all morning getting everything in order. I sat at the table watching him. He didn't tell me anything, he just had a giant doofy smile on his face as he made sure everything was in order.   
I didn't know what the big deal was, I never understood why everyone got so excited about Valentines Day.   
Finally Dan sat down at the table, he reached across and grabbed my hand.   
"I have something special planned, you don't have to get all dolled up, but I'm taking you out at 8. We've got like seven hours, so take your time."   
"What are we doing?"   
"It's a surprise baby, just get ready, maybe we can start this night early." He winked then scooted away from the table and I got butterflies in my stomach.   
"I'll be right back, gonna go out and get something." He kissed me then grabbed the keys and left.   
I decided to take this time to take a shower. The water felt nice against my skin, Charlotte has gotten so big, and it was causing my back to ache all the time. I couldn't be on my feet for long periods of time. It was hard to believe I only had three months left and she'd be out.   
I got out of the shower and wrapped my hair in a towel and put my robe in. I had only been in the shower for thirty minutes, and when I walked out of the bathroom the front door was wide open. I looked around, but Dan wasn't home. I frantically checked every room, nothing was stolen, but when I walked back to the main room there was a piece of paper on the table. I opened it, thinking it was from Dan.   
I started reading it, realizing immediately that it wasn't from Dan, but someone had broken into our house to give me or Dan this note. It read :   
"Hey, so I couldn't stop thinking about you. If you really loved her then you wouldn't have been at the bar with me that night. So obviously there was a chance for me, and I just can't seem to keep you off my mind Dan. So I have a plan, a genius plan! Maybe if I got rid of her and that god awful mistake of a child then you'll come crawling back to me!   
Sincerely,   
You already know who this is xoxoxo" 

I was livid, but I was also terrified. She knew where Dan and I lived. She had gotten into our house. I locked the door up and sat on the couch with my knees against my chest, got my phone and dialed Dans number.   
It rang three times and I was about to hang up when he answered.   
He sounded happy and I heard him talking to somebody and I heard a mixture of people talking in the background.   
"Hey baby, I'm at the mall. Getting you something special."   
I was crying and he heard it, his voice went from happy to worried in a matter of seconds.  
"What's wrong baby? What happened? Is it Charlotte? Tell me!"   
"She broke in Dan."   
"Who broke in!?"   
"Natalie, the girl from the bar. Dan please come home, I'm scared."   
"Alright, just lock the doors, I'll be back in twenty minutes."   
"Can you stay on the phone?"   
"Of course I can, just stay calm, don't worry ___."   
It took less than twenty minutes for him to get home. I had been sitting in silence, all I could hear was the soft sound of the engine through Dans phone. It was soothing. The next thing I heard was him banging on the door. I got up quickly and let him in. As soon as he was through the doorway I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him. I felt safer with him here. He kept one arm wrapped around my as I lead him to the table where I left the note.   
He read it and when he was done his tightened his fist around the note. It crumbled and he slammed it down on the table.   
"I'm not gonna let her do anything to you. I promise."   
"What are we gonna do?"   
"I'm moving you back to the Grump Space until this all blows over."  
"Dan we just got-"   
"___, I've gotta look out for you and Charlotte. Natalie isn't going to hurt you with everyone there."   
"But what about when everyone leaves?"   
"I'm still going to be there with you ___."   
I sighed and dropped my head. My hair covered my face, and a tear ran down my cheek. Dan brushed my hair out of my face and lifted my chin up.   
"Shh, don't cry. Look, I'm still taking you out tonight, so continue getting ready. I'm gonna handle this baby, you have nothing to worry about."   
I nodded and he kissed my nose. 

~~~

I was a pair of black leggings and loose fitting white sweater. I decided to trade my moccasins for a pair of black flats. I tried to look calm, but I was still worried about Natalie. I composed myself and walked out of the bedroom and Dan was leaning against the wall. He was wearing a leather jacket and a black tight black t-shirt underneath. He looked up from his phone when I walked out.   
"You ready to go darling?"   
I nodded and he held out his hand for me to take and we walked out. He made sure to lock up the door, he checked it three times just to make sure.   
When we got in the car Dan told me to close my eyes. I was confused, but I did. I felt the engine vibrate under me and it was a calming feeling. He didn't turn on any music and the car ride was quiet. The car shifted into reverse and then the engine cut off.   
"Can I open my eyes yet?"   
"Hmmm, nope. Let me help you out and then when we get in you can open them."   
I sighed and tried to keep my eyes shut as he helped me out. He held my hand and my waist and lead me into wherever we were going.   
I heard quiet jazz music playing and soft talking.   
"Open your eyes." He whispered into my ear and when I opened I knew exactly where we were.   
It had seemed like forever ago that I was here, but I knew what it was immediately. The coffee shop from my first day in California, the coffee shop where I first met Dan and the Grumps. It was empty except for the people behind the counter. It was getting late and most people don't hang out at coffee shops this late.   
We sat in the same spot and it was such a nostalgic feeling being here.   
A waitress came over and I got a cup of water while Dan got a cup of coffee.   
Dan and I chatted a while over our drinks, talking about anything and everything.   
"____, we've been together for six months now. You're having my baby in three months, and you're quite honestly the love of my life. We've had some rough times, but we always get through them. We're supposed to be together, you complete me. I don't know what I'd do without you, and I don't want to know what my life would be like without you. So basically, what I'm saying is..." He got out of his seat and down on one knee. I squeezed my eyes shut and a tear rolled down my cheek and he wiped it away. Then he pulled a little black box out of his pocket. "What I'm saying is, I want you to be my wife. I want you to be mine forever. Will you marry me?"   
"Yes! Oh my god, yes!"   
He got up and pulled me up into a tight hug.   
"I love you ___."   
"I love you Danny." 

~~

The rest of the night went well, I was admiring the ring and how it glistened in the light above the table. It was a beautiful silver ring with a gorgeous diamond in the center and then other tiny diamond facets around the ring. Dan looked proud of his choice in rings. It was weird to have the ring around my finger, I wasn't used to having anything around any of my fingers. I would have to get used to it though, it was just too beautiful of a ring for me not to wear it.   
When we left and got into the car Dan leaned over to kiss me. It wasn't a quick kiss, he had to hold himself up on my arm rest to hold the kiss and make it last.   
He finally moved back and brushed my hair behind my ear and ran the back of his hand across my cheek.   
"You're one step closer to being Mrs. ___ Avidan."   
I giggled and blushed, a soft sweet smile formed on his lips. He started the car and we drove back to the house.   
When we walked up the stairs there were two notes stuck the outside of the door.   
"She's been here Dan."   
"Baby, you have nothing to worry about, I already told you. She can't break in either, we're on a top level. Not even a ladder will reach this high. The only way for her to get in is through the front door."   
"I know I just, I don't want her to hurt Charlotte. I don't know what she's capable of.   
"She not going to lay a finger on you or Charlotte. I promise."   
Dan unlocked the front door and opened it, taking the notes in with him. He read one note, which basically said something along the lines of "I see you took her out. Better enjoy this Valentines Day, it's going to be the last one you spend together."   
I got to read the second note, which was far more unsettling. It read :   
"I watched your date tonight. I sat outside waiting, but then I saw the ring and that horrible proposal. Who proposes in a coffee shop? You must not really like her or you would have made it more special. But still, I have to make my plan better, I've got to get rid of them sooner. I'm so much better than her and you know it. You can start over with me." 

I handed the note to Dan and he skimmed over it. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.   
"I'm gonna have to call the police and have something done about this. I remember what happened before on your first week here in California and I will not go through that again. If she tries to-" he swallowed hard, I heard it. He shook his head and looked over at me and then back down at the table.   
"This is all my fault ___, if I hadn't have cheated none of this would be happening. I need to fix it. I'll the cops first thing in the morning."   
I nodded and he kissed my hand. I got up to go to bed while Dan made sure the door was locked up. He slipped into bed with me and wrapped his arm around me. I scooted closer to him and fell asleep.


	25. Back at the Grump Space

Dan and I packed some clothes for ourselves and drove over to the Grump Space. We parked in the back so that no one would notice our car. We came in through the back and everyone was waiting for us. We explained quickly what was going on and then Dan and Arin went back to record an episode of Game Grumps.   
While Arin and Dan were recording Suzy and Barry sat and talked with me about everything. Suzy was pissed, she didn't like the fact that Natalie was threatening me more than anyone else did.   
"What are you going to do about it though?" Barry seemed more worried than pissed. He was very protective of me and it was obvious that he had some type of crush on me.   
"Dans going to call the cops and try to get a restraining order. Until then, we're going to be staying here."   
"But most people don't listen to restraining orders. You don't really think she will, do you?" Suzy asked this time and Barry nodded in agreement to Suzy's question.  
"Well, if she doesn't follow the terms of the restraining order she'll be put in jail. I don't think she'd want that."   
"___, you don't know her, you don't know what she's like or what she's capable of. She may not care about being thrown in jail, she just wants you gone. That's what the letters make it seem like anyway." I nodded in agreement to what Suzy said. She was right, I didn't know what she was capable of, the only thing I did know was that she wanted me and Charlotte gone and she would possibly go to great lengths just to do that.   
"So, do you know when Dan is going to talk to the police? I think it needs to be done soon, I don't want anything to happen to you or Charlotte." Barry looked down at his hands and I patted his knee to try and reassure him.   
"Hey, nothing is going to happen. Dans going to make sure of that. We all are, I know none of you would let anyone hurt me or the baby."   
"Of course we wouldn't ___, we would all do anything that we possibly could to help you." Suzy always try to cheer everyone up and reassure them. That's what I liked about her the most, her sweet peppy attitude that always seemed to help cheer everyone up. Although I was worried, I couldn't help but grin widely. 

The boys walked out of the recording room, and Barry got up to go edit the footage. They were in there for almost five hours but decided to end early so Dan and Arin could get this whole Natalie thing under control.   
Me and Suzy were in the middle of the large couch, Arin sat next to Suzy on one end and Dan sat next to me on the other. We were thinking of what to do when Ross walked in.   
"What's up fuckbad, preggers, Suz, dork." We all immediately turned to look at him, any other time we would laugh, but we were too serious at the moment and now it was just annoying.   
"Shut up Ross." Dan almost growled, I put my hand on top of his and he sighed.   
"What's wrong with you guys? Take a damn joke." Ross was still laughing as he said this and Dan's leg started shaking from being pissed.   
"Some people have important things to handle Ross. We don't have time for jokes." Dan ran his hand through his hair and then smacked his hands down onto his legs. "You know what, fuck off Ross."   
Ross looked confused and I pushed myself up off the couch to talk to Ross. Dan watched as I led Ross into the kitchen to fill him in.   
"Look Ross, nobody is mad at you, it's just we're super stressed out and worried and we're trying to figure out some stuff."   
"Well what's going on? I can help, I didn't mean to piss you guys off. What's wrong?"   
I filled Ross in on everything that's going on and he was shaking his head.   
"That's just... Just bullshit. What the hell is wrong with that crazy bitch? Threatening to hurt you and the baby! What the fuck man."   
"Well we're all trying to figure it out and Dan and I have to stay here for a while until we get the restraining order and everything worked out."   
"You guys just got the new apartment though, what the actual fuck?"   
"I don't know, she knows where we live, we can't stay here, especially after the threats. Dans worried."   
"Understandable, just no having sex in the guest bedroom anymore, that was gross."   
"Oh my god Ross! Shut up."   
We walked out of the kitchen and back to the living room. Ross sat in the armchair across from us and I sat back down next to Dan.   
"So how we gonna stop this bitch?" Everyone was looking at Ross and Dan shook his head.   
"Look, I don't really know, all I do know is that ___ and Charlotte are the most important right now. When I'm out, someone needs to be here with her. I don't want her to be outside unless someone is with her. Until this goes to court and we get the restraining order then ____ and the baby are in danger." Dan wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him.   
"Well you know, maybe if you didn't cheat on ___ this wouldn't be a problem... Just saying." Ross leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest.   
I can't believe he went there. Although Ross was right, now wasn't really the best time to bring that up. Everyone looked down, Dan looked pissed.   
"You know what, fuck you Ross. I made a fucking mistake and now ___ and my daughter are being threatened and you're going to throw that shit back up in my god damn face. Just fuck you." Dans whole body was shaking, and I held my hand on his leg, I was scared that he was gonna try to fight Ross and I didn't need that right now. I was already stressed about the Natalie situation, I didn't need the stress of Dan and Ross fighting.   
"Can we all just calm down. Look, I know Dan fucked up, but I'm over that. Look, he proposed to me last night and we're engaged now. The important thing is that we get this bitch off my back and have her stay as far away from me, Dan, and Charlotte." Dan shaking slowly died down and he sighed loudly.   
"Alright, if Ross is done being a dick, can we continue with the plan?" Everyone stared at Ross, waiting for him to say something cocky and rude, but instead he threw his arms up and leaned forward in the chair.   
"Fine, what's the plan?"   
We discussed it for an hour and a half, going through everything twice to make sure it was right.   
We decided that Dan and I would head down to the police station tomorrow and fill out papers for a restraining order. Then we'd have to go to court to follow up with the orders. It was all just too much. I was six months pregnant and I didn't need this right now.   
We ordered Chinese takeout for dinner and we tried to calm ourselves down and take our minds off of the whole thing for a little while. We joked around, Dan and Ross seemed to be fine now. I showed Suzy my ring, and Holly came over to eat with us and I showed her my ring too. We filled her in on everything that was going on, we only talked about it for ten minutes, then we went back to joking around and goofing off.   
We all cleaned up together, Suzy and I washed dishes and the boys took care of the trash. Kevin and Barry were eating in the editing room, they were probably gonna be there for a little while longer, so everyone decided that they would retire for the night and go home. I wished that I could go back to the apartment with Dan, but instead we had to stay here. Although I liked being in the Grump Space, I really just wanted to be in my own bed with Dan, but we all knew that was too dangerous right now. We didn't know what Natalie was capable of, and we didn't want to risk anything.   
Dan and I went back into the guest bedroom and I stripped myself of my clothes and put on a large baggy t-shirt and climbed into bed. Dan had his arms open for me and I slid into them. He wrapped them around me and pulled me against him.   
"I'm so sorry, this is all my fault."   
"It's fine, as long as I'm with you I'm safe."   
"You know it baby, I won't let anything happen to you or Charlotte." He kissed my cheek and we drifted off to sleep to the sound of Kevin and Barry typing away in the other room.


	26. Court Date

Dan and I were still at the Grump Space, Dan had went down to the police to talk about a restraining order and the court date is today, February 26th. I'm 32 weeks pregnant and Charlotte is getting too big for this. I can hardly do my daily tasks, my back is far more achey now than it was before. I rarely even attempt to do my makeup anymore, but now I have to look sort of decent. I haven't put a pair of jeans on in weeks now, I usually walk around in sweatpants or pajamas, but I can't wear that into a court room. I wiggled into a light pair of denim skinny jeans, those were the only type of presentable pants that I got that I could wear out of the house, I wish I would have picked other types of pants, but hell, I've only got two months left to go now, so it would be a waste. I put on a nice baby blue blouse with pastel pink floral print on it and white flats to finish it off. I didn't wear much makeup, and I threw my hair up into a ponytail. I couldn't stand for any long period of time, my back would start hurting and it would take longer than needed.   
It was 10:30 am and Dan and I needed to be to the hearing at 11:15, so we decided to go out for breakfast and then go to the hearing. No one was at the Grump Space, so we'd tell everyone about it when we got back.   
We locked all the doors and then we headed out. Dan and I decided to just go to McDonalds for breakfast, I was craving a sausage and egg burrito and he wanted pancakes. We ate in the parking lot and when we were done we sat there for a little while.   
"Are you alright ___?"   
"Yeah, I'm fine... Just scared I guess."   
"What are you scared about? There's nothing to be scared of. I'm going to be right there with you."   
"What if she follows us?"   
"She won't be allowed to, we'll have a restraining order."   
"What if she has someone else do her dirty work?"   
"You're over thinking, just calm down ___."   
I tried to calm down, I inhaled deeply through my nose and exhaled through my mouth a couple times and it seemed to help a little bit. Dan grabbed my hand and kissed it then started the car and we headed off. 

We got there a little early and we had to sit in a little lobby area to wait to be called back. As we were sitting there Natalie walked in and sat across from us. She was wearing a tight black dress and black stilettos. I looked myself over and sighed.   
"You're beautiful babe, alright. She's nothing compared to you."   
I looked over to him and smiled. He kissed me and held my hand until we were called into the court room.   
Dan made sure that he stayed behind me so he could watch out for me. When we walked in the judge looked irritated already, most likely from the last couple of people he had to deal with.   
"What are we here for today?" The judge asked, he was looking at me as the bailiff handed him the details about the case. The judge put on his glasses and read over the case for a minute then looked up at me again. Why was he staring at me?   
"Is there any reason in particular that you would like to get this restraining order?"   
"Well Uhm, I have notes from her that she broke into my house to give me."   
The judge nodded and the bailiff walked over to take the notes from me and handed them over to the judge. He skimmed over the notes and clicked his tongue while shaking his head.   
"Threatening a pregnant women and her child. That is quite pathetic. How far along are you in your pregnancy?"   
"I'm exactly 32 weeks today."   
"32 weeks, and you're getting threats from this women over here right?"   
"Yes your honor."   
"Do you know her?"   
"Not exactly, my fiancé does."   
"Is this man your fiancé?"   
"Alright ma'am, you can sit down now."   
I quickly sat down in the chair behind the podium and listened as the judge talked to Dan.   
"So how do you know this lady over here?"   
"I had went to the bar one night and I met her there while I was drunk."   
"Did anything happen between you two?"   
"Yes."   
"Do you like this lady?"   
"Not at all."   
"When did all of this happen?"   
"Sometime in November."   
"So you cheat on your pregnant fiancée sometime in November, and three months later she has to deal with the brunt of it. Don't you find that a tad bit ridiculous?"   
"Yes I do."   
"Thank you. I'll now talk to her."   
Dan sat down next to me and ran his hand through his hair. He looked nervous, I felt nervous, Charlotte was tightening up and I tried to soothe her by rubbing my stomach. Dan placed his hand on my stomach and also rubbed it, most likely to calm himself,   
"Ma'am, I have one question."   
"What is that your honor?" Natalie tried to look cute and seductive, she looked stupid.   
"What is wrong with you?"   
"Excuse me?" She looked shocked and I tried to stifle my laughter.   
"You're going to threaten to hurt that women and her child because you have some strange obsession with her fiancé?"   
"Well I-"   
"Well you need help. You will stay as far away from that women, her fiancé, her family, her friends, and her child. You will not have any contact with them at all. If you even look in her direction you will be locked up, you understand?"   
"Yes your honor."   
"Case dismissed." The judge slammed the gavel down and Dan and I stood up to leave. Natalie had to stay behind for a while so that Dan and I could leave first.   
We walked to the car and when we got in Dan immediately started the car, we sat there for a second. I was more than happy about how this all panned out, I couldn't even find the words to explain it.   
We headed back towards the Grump Space, I couldn't wait to tell everyone, and I mostly couldn't wait to be back at our apartment and sleeping with Dan in our own bed.


	27. St. Patrick's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dans Point of View

It was St. Patrick's Day, instead of getting super drunk though, ____ and I were gonna watch the marathon of Leprechaun with Arin and Suzy. Ross and Barry were gonna record their annual Stout Train episode tonight, it was supposed to be me this year filming, but ___ didn't want drunk me around Charlotte, which was totally understandable.   
It was taco night tonight, all of us sat down around the table and ate. Ross, Barry, Kevin, and Arin were all drinking, it was kind of stupid that Barry and Ross were drinking already. They were on their second can of beer by the end of dinner and while they headed back to record, the rest of us sat down and started the Leprechaun marathon. Mark decided to join us tonight, he met ___ for the first time. They sat and talked for awhile about Charlotte and how she really enjoys his videos and she congratulated him on how many subscribers he had.   
The movie started up and we all sat back in the dark and watched it. I ain't gonna lie, that shits creepy, spooky ass looking Leprechaun, just give him the damn gold.   
___ wasn't scared though, so I had to put on my man face and look like I wasn't scared.   
Everyone laughed at me when I would jump and it was bullshit, ___ wrapped her arm around me and pretended to calm me down.   
"This is bullshit!" I got up and walked into the guest bedroom. I laid on the bed for a little bit, I was gonna take a little nap and then go back out and finish the marathon with everyone. 

~~~~

When I woke up it was three hours later. I was disoriented and confused, so I quickly got out of bed and opened the door. The TV was still on and I heard ___ talking.   
"Stop it. Seriously. You're drunk!" She sounded upset. I rushed out to see what was going on and I almost shit my pants. Barry was trying to grab up on her.   
"Come on ___. I could treat you sooooooo much better than him. I wouldn't cheat on you." Barry was drunk lay mumbling while trying to put his hand on ___'s thigh.   
"What the FUCK are you doing Barry!?" ___ got up and ran to me and wrapped her arms around me.   
"Dan he's drunk. He's confused, I don't know-"   
"I'm gonna kick his fucking ass!"   
"Dan please, you'll regret it later."   
"The fuck I will, no one touched my fucking fiancée and uses being drunk as a fucking excuse!"   
She was pulling my arm making sure that I wouldn't move. I didn't want to hurt her so I stayed next to her and let her think that she was strong enough to hold me there.   
"Barry, I swear to god, if you touch her again I will beat the living shit out of you, don't test me." I was pointing at him and he laughed at me. He was laughing in my face. Fucking drunk Barry, I hated it.   
"You know I could treat her better!" His drunk mumbling pissed me off more. I wanted to hurt him, but I knew that ___ would be upset, and she was right, I would regret it.   
"Dan can we just go home? Barry can sleep here."   
"Fine."   
I grabbed my keys off the counter and grabbed ___'s hand. I had to lock up the door because I knew drunk ass Barry wouldn't be sober enough to turn a lock until the morning when everyone else is there.   
I opened the door for ___ and she climbed in. I sat there for a little while and I knew I shouldn't be mad at her, but I couldn't help but sound pissed.   
"Why the hell didn't you run to get me!?" I immediately regretted what I said. She looked up to me and her eyes were welling with tears.   
"Oh my god, no no, don't cry. I'm not mad at you baby. I'm just confused."   
"Dan I'm seven months pregnant. I can't run. I didn't know what he would do if I even tried to."   
"Why didn't you call for me?"   
"I did, you sleep like a damn rock Dan."   
"Ugh, just, I love you."   
"I know you do, and I love you too. Maybe we should have just had the marathon at Arin and Suzy's place."   
"Maybe, but, I'm asking Barry why the fuck he did this shit tomorrow. I'm still pissed."   
"I know you are."   
I started up the car and ____ quietly dozed off in the seat. She looked so beautiful and peaceful in the soft light from the street lamps. I still want to beat the shit out of Barry.


	28. A Talk With Barry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dans Point of View

I woke up before ___ did, she was always so tired now and she usually slept in late. I was gonna head over to the Grump Space to have a little talk with him before ___ woke up.   
I put on some pajama pants and a t-shirt and my shoes and headed out. I locked the door behind me, I'm always so worried about her when she's by herself.   
It was about six or seven in the morning, Barry should be up by then. He'd probably be a little hung over, but that's alright. He doesn't need to be sober, all he has to do is listen.   
I got in the car and drove fast over to the Grump Space. It only took about ten minutes instead of the usual twenty due to the lack of traffic on the road.   
I got out and walked up to the door. It was locked, so nobody else was there. I unlocked it and walked in quietly. I heard Barry snoring in the guest room, the door was open, he was so vulnerable. I could just straight up punch him in the face right now, he would be in shock, he wouldn't be able to fight back, I could knock him out.   
But I wasn't going to do that, I was gonna make him know why I was pissed, and then I'd punch him in the face.   
I walked into the guest bedroom and slammed the door. Barry jolted awake, he was covered in sweat and he looked scared.   
"Oh, Dan... Hey buddy, what are you doing here?" He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times before refocusing himself on me.   
"Now look here you scruffy bearded fucker, you touch my fiancé one more god damn time I swear to god that I will knock you into next week!" He looked confused. He didn't remember anything.   
"Dan, what are you talking about? You know that I would nev-"   
"No, you know what, don't play that innocent Barry bullshit with me. ___ is seven months fucking pregnant and she's mine, she's my fiancé and your drunken self tried to get a piece. You better be damn happy that she held me back because I would have fucking killed you."   
"Dude, chill out, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about."   
"You got drunk as fuck last night and tried to grab up on her! I don't care if you're drunk or not, you don't pull that shit on her." Barry sat there thinking for a while, then he looked pissed. He pushed the blankets off himself and he got up quickly causing him to stumble a little. Then he walked over to me and tried to get in my face, although he couldn't really reach my face, he had to look up at me.   
"You know what, I was drunk! Where the fuck were you? Why weren't you out there with her!?"   
"I can't fucking believe you! Don't try to make this seem like it's my fault. Don't you have any fucking morals?"   
"That's a pretty hypocritical question coming from someone who cheated on their pregnant girlfriend."   
That fucking piece of shit was gonna go there. I couldn't hold myself back. My fists were clenched tight and I pulled it back and punched him in the face.   
He stumbled backwards but he stayed on his feet. He didn't come at me though. He stayed back near the bed. His nose was dripping blood and he smiled at me.   
"What so fucking funny?" He shook his head and let out a little snicker.   
I turned around to leave, I wanted to get back to ___ before she got worried.   
Then I felt something hit the back of my head and everything went black.


	29. Knocked Out

I woke up and rolled over. Dan wasn't there, I wiped my eyes and looked to see what time it was. It was nine in the morning, it was the usual time Dan and I both woke up, so where was Dan?   
I got up and stretched then reached my feet down to the floor. I looked around the room and then listened for anything that might indicate that Dan was still here.   
There was nothing, the TV was silent, there was no movement coming from outside the bedroom. I grabbed my robe and my phone, then slipped on my slippers and walked out of the bedroom. I knocked on the bathroom door, maybe Dan was in there.   
"Danny? Danny are you in there?" There was no response. Where in the hell could he have gone off to so early?   
I checked my phone, remembering that I had turned it on silent for the night. Maybe I had gotten a call from Dan or something and just missed it.   
I was disappointed when I saw that Dan hadn't called, but Suzy had, so maybe she knew where Dan was.   
I called her phone and it rang a few times. I was about to hang up when I heard Arin answer.   
"Hey ___, we tried to call you. You need to get down to the Grump Space now." His talking was rushed, and his breathing was heavy and quick.   
"Arin what's going on? Where's Dan? I can't get to the Grump Space, I don't have a car. You know that.."   
"Oh fuck, right, shit, dammit. Uhm... Suzy!" Arin called out to Suzy and they talked quickly and quietly. I couldn't make out what they were saying but Arin soon came back to the phone.   
"Suzy is coming to get you. It doesn't matter what you're wearing, you just need to come quick. I'll see you soon." And with that, the phone clicked and everything went silent.   
What the hell is going on? Charlotte sensed the tension and kicked around. I rubbed my stomach to try and calm her and then went to trade my slippers for my moccasins and I swapped out my robe for a nice pullover hoodie. I pulled my hair up in a pony tail and decided to just stay in my pajama pants, they were much more comfortable.   
It didn't seem like that long until there was a quick rapping at the door. I walked over to the door and opened it. Suzy was there, and I immediately sensed that something was wrong. Her eyes didn't have that twinkle in them like they usually do and her posture was more slumped instead of the perky Suzy that I was used to.   
I didn't hesitate, I didn't ask questions. I walked out and locked up the door and followed Suzy to her car and climbed in.   
It was almost mechanic the way that she moved, but the way that she drove scared that crap out of me. She went fast, weaving through the cars that blocked her from our destination.   
I instantly went from nervous to full blown fearful. I held onto the handle next to my seat with one hand and kept my other arm around my stomach. It was a protective gesture, but also instinctive due to the fact that I felt like I was about to throw up.   
In no time we were at the Grump Space, I climbed out of her car as fast as I could and followed her in.   
What I saw sent me into a state of shock. There were bloody rags on the floor and Dan was strewn across the couch, Arin was hovering over him and Kevin was sitting in a chair across the room with his hand covering his mouth.   
I walked slowly over to the couch to see him, I was scared, I didn't know what I would see, but when I got there I wished that I hadn't seen it at all.   
There was a large gash in the back of Dans head that was still oozing a little bit of blood. I ran my hand across his face, he was unresponsive to my touch.   
I looked around at everyone else. They were all staring at me, waiting for my reaction. I didn't know how I was going to react though, so many emotions were boiling up inside me. Fear, confusion, anger and sickness.   
"What the hell happened?" I swallowed back the bile that was rising in my throat. Suzy grabbed the rags off the floor and walked out of the room and Kevin followed her out, not wanting to be involved in any of this.   
"We don't know ___, we came in this morning, and we saw him on the floor near the guest bedroom. He was bleeding pretty bad, it's a good thing we came when we did. It must have been a robber, there was no one else here with him." His eyes darted from me to Dan and back to me. I shook my head, it couldn't have been a robber.   
"Arin, Barry was here last night. Barry slept in the guest bedroom, where is Barry?"   
"I don't know, he wasn't here."   
"God dammit! Son of a bitch Dan!"   
"Hey, what's wrong? What are you talking about?"   
I filled Arin in on what happened last night, Arin looked shocked, and then he looked pissed.   
"Barry had to have done this Arin... Dan probably tried to confront him and it turned into this... We need to get Dan to the hospital!"   
"Alright alright... Uhm... Oh jeez, Uhm... You and Suzy stay here, call the ambulance, they'll pick him up and Suzy will follow the ambulance to the hospital."   
"Well, what are you gonna do?"   
"I'm gonna find that son of a bitch Barry and show him that no one messes with my buddy Dan!"   
Arin pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly texted someone and then he kissed Suzy goodbye and left.   
Suzy called the ambulance and I filled her in on what was going on and what happened last night while we were waiting.  
"Oh my god, ___ I'm so sorry, I didn't know, I shouldn't have left you here..."   
"No, Suzy its not your fault, it no ones fault. I should have gotten Dan and we should have left when you did."   
She shook her head and got up to open the door as we heard the sirens from the ambulance out front.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the late update. My moms been in the hospital, she just had a baby! Yay! But I've been busy lately with my sisters, but my moms coming home tomorrow, so the updates should be coming out quickly like they were before!


	30. Looking for Barry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for being gone so long! But I'm back, I've continued writing. Trying to write whenever I can and spend time with the new baby.   
> But I'm back and I'm gonna try to post updates regularly again!

Fucking Barry man, Barry of all people. Drunk fucking Barry hurt my fucking best friend, and now I'm gonna get back at him.   
___ doesn't need this right now, nobody fucking does. Drunk Barry decides to touch on Dan's women and Barry decides to knock Dan out? Oh hell no! Not in my book!   
Oh man, oh shit, I should call Ross, Ross and Mark! Mark and Ross yeah! They'll help me sort this shit out!   
It's pretty hard to drive when I'm so fucking pissed, I can't call them right now, I need to pull over and just calm the hell down, this isn't gonna fucking work.   
Alright, alright, I'm calm now. I gotta fucking do this!   
My hands were shaking as I pulled out my phone, I was shaking due to the pure rage that ran through my veins, it ran through my whole body, heating me up, I was burning up inside.   
"Hello? Arin?" Thank you Mark for answering!   
"Yeah, man I'm picking you up, okay!"   
"Arin is ten in the morning, I've got work to do, maybe another time...?"   
"There is no other fucking time, I need to find Barry!"  
"What's wrong? Is he okay?" Mark sounded worried about him, oh silly Mark, you know nothing yet.   
"He won't be when I get to him, now get ready, I'm picking you up, I gotta get Ross too. So be ready soon."   
"Arin please expl-" I hung up the phone, there's no time to waste. I can't explain this now, God only knows where Barry is right now.   
I drove as fast as I could, weaving through the traffic that seemed endless. It seemed like I couldn't get to Ross fast enough.   
When I did finally get to his house, I knocked rapidly on the door. I tried to turn the doorknob but it was locked. Ross opened the door, he looked dazed and confused like I had woken him up. He was in his boxers and it bothered me. It would be a waste of time waiting for him to get dressed.   
I pushed past him into his house as he was rubbing his eyes to clear his view.   
"Arin what in the hell are you doing?" His tired mumbling agitated me even more.   
"No time to lose, gotta find Barry." I walked into his room where Holly was still curled up in bed sleeping, hugging a stuffed bird.   
"Dude, you can't just waltz into my house and use finding Barry as an excuse. Dude!" I was rummaging through his clothes trying to find something for him to put on. I threw a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to him.   
"Put these on, we have to go get Mark."   
I left the room and waiting for him to walk back out. When he did he looked pissed, and he stormed out of the house after me and slammed the door shut.   
"Man, what the fuck is this all about. I don't have time for this shit, I have an episode of-"   
"There will be no episodes today Ross! When I get Mark I will explain to both of you what the hell is going on and what happened. Can you please just shut up for five seconds and stop complaining?"   
"Sure, whatever!" He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest and stared out the window as we drove down the street to get Mark.


	31. Hospitals Are No Good

The ambulance pulled up out front of the hospital and I got out with Dan. Suzy was parking her car and she soon found me in the waiting room.   
The doctors had taken Dan back into the ER. I was worried sick and Charlotte wouldn't stop moving which caused me to feel more nauseous than needed.   
I was rubbing my stomach trying to soothe her when a nurse came over to talk to me.   
"Ma'am, are you Mr. Avidan's wife?" She was holding a clipboard and waiting for me to respond. I swallowed the spit that was building up in my mouth and shook my head.   
"I'm his fiancée, is he going to be alright?"   
"We need to do a couple of tests. You need to stay calm though, how far along are you?" She smiled as she tried to keep my mind off of Dan. It wasn't working but I let her think that it was as I rubbed my stomach and smiled back.  
"I'm 7 months, well, 35 weeks exactly today. Two months left until she's here."   
"Oh it's a girl! Congratulations, do you have a name picked out for her?"   
"Her name is gonna be Charlotte Lee."   
"Well, the doctors here are going to do everything they can do get your fiancé alright and well so he can be there to see his baby born."   
"Thank you, thank you so much." I felt like hugging her, but she got a call over the intercom. Her name was Nurse Daniels and she had to come immediately to the ER. It scared me, I didn't know if she was being called there for Dan or for someone else.   
Suzy patted my knee and cleared her throat to get my attention. I looked over to her and she sighed.   
"___, the nurse was right. You need to stay calm, how about we get something to drink? You want some coffee?"   
"Sure, I guess." Suzy got up first and grabbed my hands. I didn't feel like getting up, I didn't feel like doing anything. I just wanted to sit and wait for some type of news about Dan. I knew that news like that wouldn't come for a while though, so I gave in to Suzy's weak attempts to pull me up.   
We walked around for a little while, we had to ask a lot of people for directions to the cafeteria. I laughed to myself as I thought about how Dan would have reacted to Suzy and I asking to directions. He would have acted like he was annoyed, but he was just a typical guy in that aspect. He never liked asking anyone for directions, apparently it made him less of a man in doing so. Whenever we would get lost he'd play it off as we were just taking another way with less traffic, or it was a short cut.   
It made me happy to think about things like that and although it didn't take my mind fully off the fact that Dan was hurt and I didn't know what would happen, it did make me smile just a little bit.   
When Suzy and I walked into the cafeteria is was almost empty, aside from the few doctors that were changing shifts and were coming in for their morning cups of coffee.   
We stood in line behind a group of nurses who were getting coffee and plates of breakfast. It took a while and I was becoming impatient. Some sort of news about Dan could have come up while I was here waiting in line. It was ridiculous.   
I was rocking from one foot to the other, Suzy noticed my impatient stature and put her hand on my shoulder to keep me still.   
"____, you need to calm down. It'll be fine. You know that if you get stressed it'll stress the baby too." She gave me a stern look, like one that my mother would give me if I stayed up late on a school night.  
I nodded, I knew she was right. I tried to calm myself by breathing, it didn't help much, but I stopped the rocking and Suzy smiled at me.   
As we were waiting in line I wondered what was going on with Arin.


	32. Found A Barry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Arin's Point of View)

Fuck, fucking shit fuck. Mark, Ross and I have been looking every where, fucking, he's not at his apartment, where the hell is he?   
"Dude, hey Arin, maybe if I text him he'll tell us where he is?" Mark pulled his phone out and started texting Barry. It was a stupid idea. Barry obviously already knew we were looking for him, why would he tell Mark where he's at?   
We were stuck in traffic, everyone was driving to work and I was stuck behind a stupid SUV that had the stick figure families on the back and, I just want to find Barry.   
Marks phone went off, indicating that he got a text message. My hands tightened around the wheel. Mark looked over at me and nodded. He showed me the screen, it was a text from Barry. He had told Mark where he was at! He most likely hadn't assumed that Mark would come along with me, but thank god he did.   
Mark texted Barry back and told him he would be over soon, little did Barry know that Mark wasn't the only one coming over and it wouldn't be a fun chill day for hanging out. 

The traffic light finally turned green and I almost slammed the pedal down to the floor, I was in such a rush, but I didn't want to get in an accident, so I eased up a little.   
Barry was staying at one of his friends apartments while they were out of town. His friend didn't live that far and it would take an estimated 20 minutes to get there depending on traffic.  
"Hey man, you're not gonna try to fight him, are you?" Ross asked from the back of my car. I looked in the rearview mirror back at him. He looked worried.   
"Only if he tries to fight me. Look, Barry is my friend, but he crossed the fucking line. Dans in the fucking hospital because of him. ___ is worried sick, she's fucking pregnant and she doesn't need that." Ross nodded and sat back in his seat. 

We pulled up out front of his friends house. Mark got out first, then Ross, and finally me. Mark knocked on the door and Barry opened it up wide, but when he saw me and Ross standing behind Mark he tried to shut it. Ross and I pushed opened the door and Barry backed up and held his hands up in front of him.   
"Look, guys, I know why you're here, just hear me out!" He was pleading with us, his hands stayed out toward us, and his eyes were wide with fear.   
"You have 60 seconds to talk!" Ross shouted, he sounded like he was joking, quoting an actor, it seemed like he wanted to say that his whole life. I would have laughed if I wasn't so angry.   
"I know what I did, I feel like shit! I would have called an ambulance myself but I was scared, I didn't want to get arrested so I ran. I was drunk, hungover actually. I was groggy, he woke me up."   
"Dans in the hospital right now Barry... ____ is devastated, she's terrified." Mark was much softer when speaking, he tried to calmly get his point across. If it was me talking I would have been screaming up in his face, it probably would have turned into a fight, so I'm glad that Mark was talking right now. I didn't really want to hurt him or fight him, I just needed some answers.   
"Wait.. Dans in the hospital? Is he okay? Oh shit, I'm so sorry, is ___ there with him? Is she alright?" Barry was stuttering and having difficulty speaking. His eyes were glossed over, he was close to tears.   
"He's unconscious, but he's still alive. You hit his head pretty hard. ____ isn't doing that well. She doesn't know what's gonna happen. She's paranoid, she's seven months pregnant and the father of her child is knocked unconscious." I honestly don't know how Mark is staying so calm, I guess that's one of his many charms. He's able to stay calm in even the most tense situations, when I would have already lost it.   
Barry sat down at the table and dropped his head down. He was sobbing and I didn't know what to do. I was mad, but I also felt bad for Barry. He didn't understand the extent in which his actions hurt people, nobody ever does


	33. A Long Days End

I had finally gotten to go into Dans room to see him after my cup of coffee. Suzy had left and went back to her house. She respected the fact that I just wanted to be with Dan alone.   
I sat on the couch underneath the large window. The sun shone through on Dans face. His eyes were shut and but his lips were still turned up in a smile. I wondered what he was thinking.   
The only sounds in the room were the beeping on the heart monitor and the mixture of mine and Dans breathing. 

I had dozed off, and when I woke up Dans eyes were wide open. He was staring at me, and although it was amazing to see him so alert, it creeped me out waking up and seeing it.   
I sat up and stretched and he reached his arm out to me. I got up to grab his hand and he weakly squeezed it.   
"How long have you been laying there?" His voice was dry and course. I touched his face, it felt cold in my warm hand. He sighed and leaned into my touch and smiled a little.   
"An hour, maybe two. How are you feeling?" He sighed and scooted over a little so I could sit on the edge of the bed. He continue to hold my hand and he ran his thumb across mine as he thought.   
"My head hurts like a bitch, but other than that I feel fine. I just want to go home with you." His eyes were wide as he looked at me. I knew that he wouldn't be able to go back home any time soon, the doctors wanted to keep a close eye on him. This was more stressful than when I got shot, I didn't have to stay as long either. But I wanted to make him feel better, and my mother always told me mind over matter, and if you told somebody that they were going to get better, than they would feel better. So that's what I did.   
"You'll be home soon, two or three more days and I'll be able to cuddle up next to you like every other night." I leaned down and kissed him. I felt him smile as I pressed my lips against his, and when I pulled away his smile grew wider.   
"How's my little princess doing?" He pressed his hand against my stomach and she wiggled around a little bit. He kept his hand on my stomach as I talked to him about what the doctors told me.   
"You got like twenty something stitches in the back of your head. They had to shave a little bit, but thankfully your hair is so long that it hides it. They said that you might have some really bad headaches for a couple months afterwards, but you can just take some painkillers and try to sleep it off."   
"That must be why my head stings like a bitch. Damn, twenty stitches. Where is Barry?" When he said Barry's name his eyebrows lowered, his eyes lost the little twinkle that was in them when he talked about Charlotte or coming home with me. He was still pissed, and I couldn't blame him.  
"Arin is looking for him. I don't know what's going on."   
"As soon as I get out of this fucking hospital, so help me-"   
"Dan, please. Can we just focus on getting you better right now. You don't need to be getting into fights any time soon. I know you're mad, everyone is, but getting into another fight with Barry isn't going to make things any better." He rolled his eyes at me and then rolled over. He didn't like what I had to say, but I'm just looking out for him.   
"I'm staying here for the night, Suzy is going to pick me up tomorrow morning. I'm gonna go ask one of the nurses if I can get a blanket and pillow for the couch." I moved to get up and Dan sighed. He reached out and grabbed my hand to pull me back to the bed.   
"Don't lay on the couch, it's bad for your back. Just lay up here with me, I think there's enough room for the three of us." He patted my stomach and smiled.   
Dan scooted over as much as he could and held his arm out for me to lay on. I nuzzled close against him and wrapped the blankets around us. He pulled me closer, and as I laid there, I felt as if I could cry.   
I was happy that he was alright, well not really alright, but he wasn't as bad off as he could have been. But I was sad at the same time. I wouldn't be able to come up to the hospital every night to sleep next to him. Our bed would feel lonely without him. My nights will seem endless without him to curl up next to. Our room will be too quiet without the sound of his soft breathing in my ear.   
The coming days will be dreadful without him there.


	34. A Months View

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dans Point of View

Alright, well, let me just start this off by saying... SON OF A BITCH! God dammit, I've been in the hospital for a month now! Like a fucking month okay! Fucking Barry hitting me in the head was the last thing I expected to happen, but since he's bro still I told the doctors that I fell and hit my head. His bitch ass had the nerve to come up in my hospital room, while ___ was in here with me, and hug her saying he's so sorry for what happened! Like dude, really? You're the reason I'm in this fucking situation. Then try to apologize to me for hitting me in the head with what felt like a brick! No bro, that ain't how it works! You're still my bro, but damn, I'm mad still. I'm missing the last half of ___'s pregnancy because I'm stuck in the hospital because they still want to monitor me to make sure I don't have cranial bleeding or some shit like that. Fuck! ___ should be due to have Charlotte soon and I can't even leave the hospital yet. They said I have another week to go! It's April 6th and she's due April 21st. Most women don't go to their due date, the doctor told us specifically that ___ will probably deliver a week early or be induced because it's her first kid. I need to get out of this fucking hospital!   
____ has been coming up almost daily, she's gotten so big! I haven't told her how big she's gotten, you know, pregnant women and their hormones, she'd take it as an insult or something. But God, she looks so damn beautiful, she's really glowing now, and Charlotte, she's moving around so much. Whenever ___ comes up to see me she lays in my bed and I just hold my hand on her stomach to feel the baby move. Sometimes I'll sing to her, most of the time ____ and Charlotte fall asleep when I do that though.   
A couple times everyone came up though, even Barry. We decided to play a game of Cards Against Humanity. What better way to spend your weekend in the hospital!?   
We had forgotten that it was like 12 o'clock at night and Arin had laid down some pretty sweet cards. It was something about scientists doing something and just, he laid down a blueberry card and we all just lost it! Ross was reading the cards out and he couldn't even finish reading it. So obviously Arin won the black card. But apparently we were being too loud and the nurses came in and kicked everyone but ____ out and Arin still won the game but damn, these nurses are a bunch of party poopers.   
I need to get back home, I miss everyone, I don't want to miss Charlotte being born, and ____ hasn't been up in a while and it's killing me being away from her this long.   
I need to get better or else I'm breaking out of this damn hospital, I can't take it!


	35. Dan's Coming Home

It's April 15th and Dan's finally coming home. The doctors called and said he's been under evaluation long enough, he had his stitches taken out, his wound is all healed up, he's perfectly fine. They're getting his discharge papers ready now, they said they wanted it to be a surprise for him. I had been talking to the nurse who talked to me in the waiting room when Dan first got taken to the hospital.   
"Well, ma'am, we thought that maybe you'd like to surprise your fiancé." That's how it all started. I was confused, I didn't understand what she meant by 'surprise'. I asked her to clarify.   
"He's been talking nonstop about you. Even in his sleep, we can all hear him in the hallway saying your name and Charlotte, that must be the name of your baby. Oh boy, you must be due soon, he keeps on telling us that you're gonna be having her soon, he's gotta get out of here, he don't wanna miss this baby."   
She still hasn't told me how we would surprise him, so I asked her.   
"Well I was thinking, maybe you could come up here, get a balloon or something, sit down with him, talk for a while. Have him thinking that he's gotta stay a little bit longer, then, I'm gonna come in and have you sign some papers, and then disconnect him from all the machines and oh, the surprise and happiness on that mans face, I'm gonna have to get a picture for you."   
I smiled as I thought about it. I agreed to what she said and told her I'd be up to the hospital in about an hour.   
While I was getting ready I texted Arin and asked him if he could drive me to the hospital to pick up Dan.   
Arin seemed excited about Dan being able to come home, he called and we talked a bit about having a little welcome back party for tonight. It sounded nice, so I told Arin to get everyone else in on it and have it set up for 8 o'clock tonight.   
I wanted to have a little bit of alone time with Dan. It's been a month since he's been home, and once Charlotte is born we won't be able to really have that much time together by ourselves.   
I wanted to look decent for when I picked him up, but with me being so big and uncomfortable all the time I couldn't get much done with myself.   
I had been trying to keep the apartment clean, but I didn't want to put too much stress on myself or Charlotte. I was already feeling pressure and I knew that she would want to come out soon, so I didn't want to over work myself and put myself into labor before Dan came back. 

I called Dans phone and he immediately picked up.   
"Hey babe!" He sounded happy that I called. I could only imagine his face whenever he saw my number show up.   
"I'm coming up to see you, is that alright?"   
"Of course it's alright! I miss you so much, you don't even understand."   
"I think I do, I miss you too." He laughed and then sighed.   
"So when are you coming up?"   
"Arin's on his way to pick me up now, then he's gonna drop me off at the hospital."   
"Alright, how long can you stay?"   
"I'm sleeping with you tonight."   
"Babe you know that's not good for the baby, there's not enough room on the bed."   
"I'm sleeping with you tonight Dan, deal with it."   
He sighed, I told him I'd see him soon and that I love him and hung up the phone.   
Arin texted me and told me he was outside so I got the keys off the counter, locked up the door and got ready to surprise Dan. 

We pulled up at the hospital at 12 o'clock. I told Arin to wait outside, and he nodded. He had a giant smile spread across his face. He was getting his best friend back after a long month of waiting. Dan was as much Arin's other half as he was mine. It might have been different from the way Dan and I were, but Arin needed Dan around as much as I did.   
I walked into the hospital and the nurse who called me was waiting at the front desk. She smiled and hugged me as I walked in. She was the same nurse who had greeted me and walked me to Dans room the whole month that he was in here. We talked a lot about Charlotte and how the end of my pregnancy was going. We had become pretty close and it was kind of sad that this was the last day that I would see her. I wasn't that great with goodbyes, I was holding back tears thinking about it.   
We stopped outside of Dans room, she knocked on his door. I heard a faint "Come in!" from inside the room. He was sounding a lot better.   
The nurse opened his door and I walked in first. His eyes lit up when he saw me. His lips spread into a smile and he threw his arms out to hug me. I walked over to him and leaned into his open arms. He wrapped them around me and squeezed. I took a step back and he looked me over. He reached his hand out and held it on my stomach.   
"She's gotten so big since the last time I saw you."   
"I know, I think she's ready to come out soon."   
"I don't want to miss it." He dropped his hand down and stared off out the window. I knew that he was about to cry, he always looked away when he was about to cry, I felt so bad.   
"Hey, you'll be out soon!" I patted his shoulder and he shrugged my hand away.  
"Yeah sure I will. Don't try to make me feel better, it's not working. Just give me the news. How much longer?" He looked over at me and his eyes looked puffy, glossy and red.   
"Another month..." His face went from sad to pissed.   
"Another fucking month! Are you shitting me!? No. I refuse!" He slammed his hands down on the bed, I saw his heart rate speed up on the monitor.   
The nurse came rushing in and looked at me. She nodded and smiled. She gave me a clipboard and I signed it quickly. Dan tried to read it but didn't have enough time.   
The nurse then went to his bedside and started taking all the stickers off and the IV out of his arm. He looked confused and looked over at me. I smiled at him and his mouth dropped in shock.   
"Mr. Avidan, you're being discharged today. You're going home, you're not going to miss your daughters birth. You're going to be just fine and you're going to be right next to your fiancée to help her." The nurse was smiling down at him and he jumped out of the bed to hug her. He had been in bed so long that his legs were weak. He wobbled a little but caught his balance on the table beside the bed.   
"___ you little shit!" After hugging the nurse he crawled across the bed to where I was and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and he wrapped his arms around my waist.   
"Are you happy?"   
"No. I'm fucking ecstatic! How long do I have to wait to get discharged?" He looked over at the nurse and she looked over at me to answer the question. He looked down at me and I laughed.   
"All you have to do is change, you're already discharged. You've been discharged since ten o'clock this morning. Arin's waiting outside, better hurry up." He was at a loss for words, he ran to the bathroom to change, I had brought him and extra pair of clothes to change into. I hadn't noticed that the nurse had left until she came back in with a little hospital bag. It contained the clothes that he came into the hospital with. She wrote on a little piece of pink paper the name of the medicine that he'd need to take if he felt any pain and the amount he should take. She put it in the bag with his clothes and handed the bag to me.   
Dan came out of the bathroom, he stood over near the door. He was so excited to leave, and I don't blame him.   
I have the nurse and hug, said goodbye, grabbed Dans hand and walked down the long hallway to the exit.   
We were finally going home, together.


	36. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, it's been a long time waiting. But here it is! Chapter 36!!! Get hyped!

Arin dropped Dan and I off at the apartment, then he went off to get the Grump Space ready for the party we were having later.   
When Dan got through the door way I could visually see all the left over tension leave his face. He just looked peaceful. He walked over to the couch and sat down, I took my place next to him. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer against him, it was a feeling that I dearly missed. I knew that we were going to have to go to the party tonight, so I wanted to spend as much time as possible close to him like this.   
"I missed you so much, I'm glad to be back home. You don't know how hard it's been..." I heard him sniffle a little bit and I shifted a little so I could look up at him. He looked down at me and I shook my head.   
"I think I do know how hard it's been. I was without you too. I was worried you wouldn't be here to see Charlotte be born and I've been so lonely." He pulled me back against him and laid his cheek against the top of my head.   
"I know baby, I know. I would have found a way to make it though. I wouldn't have missed her birth though. Wouldn't have missed it for the world."   
I started nodding off to sleep as he mumbled to himself about Charlotte.   
I woke up around 6:30 pm, my phone was vibrating in my pocket. I looked over to see that Dan had fallen asleep as well, he was slouching a little and his head was resting against the back of the couch. It looked really uncomfortable, and we had to be ready in an hour. I was scared that traffic would be bad and I didn't want to be late for Dans coming home party.   
I got up slowly, it caused Dan to jolt awake. He was looking around, he looked scared for a second, then he saw me and leaned back again.   
"You wanna go to the bedroom, get more comfortable?" He winked, I knew what he was getting at. I would have loved to, but I shook my head. I knew that we would have time for that when we got back home.   
"We're going over to the Grump Space tonight, we have to get the car babe." He rolled his eyes and sighed.   
"Can't we get it tomorrow? It's almost 7 o'clock at night."   
"Dan, I could go into labor at any minute. I'm so close to my due date. It's better to be safe than sorry." He nodded and got up off the couch.   
"Gonna have to call Arin to pick us up to get it."   
"I know, how about you go take a shower and change. You've been in that hospital for a while, it might be nice to take a shower here." He smiled wide and kissed me.   
"I'll be 20 minutes, you wanna call Arin?"   
"Yeah, I'll call him."   
Dan walked to the bathroom, when I heard the shower start I called Arin. I didn't want Dan to hear about the party.   
It ringed once and he picked up.   
"Hey, you guys ready?" There was a lot of noise in the background. Music was playing and I heard a lot of people. There was laughter and conversation.   
"He's in the shower right now. Give us twenty-five minutes and we'll be ready to go."   
"Gotcha! Call me when you're ready." The phone clicked and the call ended.   
I went to the bedroom to change. It was pretty warm, so I put on a nice dress that reached my knees and a denim jacket and flats.   
I put my hair up in a nice ponytail. I decided to not do my makeup, Dan thought I looked beautiful naturally.   
I heard the shower turn off and quickly texted Arin to start heading over to pick us up. He texted back and said he was on his way.   
Dan walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He got behind me and I could feel him against my back.   
"Why you lookin so good babe? We're just getting the car." He ruffled the bottom of my dress a little bit. I tried to come up with a good excuse off the top of my head.   
"It's hot, and I was thinking that maybe we could stop off and get something to eat after we got the car." Yeah, that's a good one. He knows I'm always hungry, so he should believe that. I'm not a good liar though, so I'm hoping that this was believable.   
"Hmm, alright. That sounds good." He walked over to the dresser to get his clothes. I was able to see the spot on his head where he was hit and where he had to have his stitches. His hair was starting to grow back in a little bit in that area, but it was still patchy. If I wasn't so worried still I would have laughed.   
"How's your head feeling?"   
"Huh? Oh, it's alright right now. Might have to stop off at the pharmacy to pick up the medicine in the morning."   
"Alright, I just don't want you to be in pain tonight."   
"I won't baby, being away from you are Charlotte is the worst pain I could ever feel."   
He was so sweet, I walked over to kiss him. I tried to stand on my tiptoes to kiss his lips but he playfully dodged all my kisses to I settled for kissing his chest. He sighed and put his hands on both sides of my face and kissed the top of my head.   
"Never do that to me again Dan."   
"What do you mean?"   
"Don't leave like that again, you don't know how scared I was. You mean so much to me, I love you. I was so scared I was going to lose you."   
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry ____, never again. I love you so much. You'll never lose me."   
My phone vibrated in my pocket, it was Arin. He was outside waiting for us. It's party time!


	37. It's Time

Dan and I walked out and I got into Arin's car as Dan locked up the door.  
"He thinks we're picking up the car and going out to eat, go along with it." I spoke as fast as I could before Dan got in the car. Arin nodded and Dan got into the front seat.  
"Hey bro, how you feeling?"  
"Oh man, a lot better since I got out of that hospital. Just glad to be home with my woman." He looked in the rearview mirror back at me and I blushed. He reached back and rubbed my bare thigh. It sent a shiver through me, I missed his touch so much. The party hadn't even started yet and I couldn't wait to be back home alone with him.  
"So... How's everything with you and Barry?" I saw Dan tense up, I didn't want to ask that question yet, but since Barry would most likely be at the party, we needed to know how he felt.  
"I mean, he drunkenly touched my lady, then almost killed me. What am I supposed to say? No hard feelings? I'm fucking pissed, I hate him. But he's the main editor, so I need to keep the peace."  
"Yeah man, I understand. The fan base was pretty worried about you. We have a plan, surprise them and have you back. Do a little video, tell them that you're okay."  
"Man, who have you been doing Grumps with? You didn't do a hiatus or anything, did you?"  
"Oh no, we just switched up between Suzy and Kevin and Ross and pretty much everyone. One shot games, you know. Didn't want to start another game series until you came back."  
"I can't wait to get back to being not so grump."  
Him and Arin laughed a little bit, I stayed silent in the back, I let them enjoy their conversation.  
We pulled up in front of the Grump Space. The car was in the same spot it was in that morning.  
"The keys are inside... Do you mind?"  
"No, not at all. They're on the key holder."  
"Thanks man!"  
We all got out and walked in together. When we opened the door everyone was standing around wearing party hats. There were balloons and streamers hanging from the ceiling. A "Welcome Home" banner was strung across the wall. Everyone shouted "Welcome Home" when he walked through the door. He was shocked, and a smile spread across his face.  
Suzy walked across the room first and hugged him. "Welcome back Danny! We all missed you!"  
Everyone followed after Suzy, and Dan looked like he was about to cry. He was so happy. He looked down at me and I smiled up at him.  
"Did you plan this?" He asked me. I have him a sheepish grin and he laughed.  
"It was everyone really, we all wanted to throw a party for you. We're so glad you're back babe." He grabbed my hand and squeezed it.  
"Yeah baby, we really missed you." Ross came over and jokingly ran his hand over Dans chest.  
"Dammit Ross." Everyone laughed when Dan said that, it seemed like everything was back to normal.  
I let Dan catch up with everyone and Suzy, Holly and I went to the kitchen to have girl talk.  
"So, how's Charlotte doing?" Holly asked. I hadn't seen her in a while.  
"She's good, I think she'll be ready to go pretty soon." I rubbed my belly as I talked about her. She moved around a little, but it must so tight in there, she couldn't move around so much anymore.  
"It's gonna be so weird not seeing you with that bump, you've practically had it since we've met you." Suzy sighed and Holly nodded. She was right though. I got pregnant as soon as I got to California. Its going to be weird for me too. I've gotten so accustomed to my stomach being so large, my body movements and basically everything I do has changed due to my belly and Charlotte.  
"So, are you ready?" Holly asked, she didn't have to be specific for me to understand what she meant.  
"I don't know, I think so. I'm scared honestly. But, while Dan was in the hospital I tried to keep myself busy, I packed my suitcase for the hospital. I packed some clothes for Charlotte too. Her coming home outfit is cute. Oh, I can't wait to see her in it. Dan picked it out and I love it. It's light pink and it has little white polka dots on it, and... Oh, sorry I'm rambling. I'm just so excited." Suzy and Holly were smiling as they listened to me talk. But they weren't smiling at me, they were looking at something just above my head.  
I looked over my shoulder and saw Dan was standing right behind me. He wrapped his arms around my stomach and kissed my cheek.  
"She's going to be so beautiful ___, I can't wait to meet her. Follow me, the guys have something for you and I." I looked to Suzy and Holly but they shrugged, they looked just as confused as me. We all followed Dan into the living room and there was a giant box in the middle of the floor. It was wrapped in cute white wrapping paper that had pastel pink bows all over it. On the top was a giant pink fluffy ribbon thing that had a tag hanging off of it. I read it and it said "To Dan and ____, we think you might need this".  
I looked around to everyone, but now even Suzy and Holly looked like they understood what was going on.  
"Come on now! Open it!" Ross screamed from next to Holly. She told him to shut up and then nodded to me.  
I grabbed one side of the wrapping paper and Dan grabbed the other side. We counted down from three and then tore it off quickly.  
I was shocked to see that it was a car seat. Dan and I were planning on getting one, but he was in the hospital and I never got around to doing it myself. It was a Peg-Pèrego primo viaggio. It was solid black and I immediately fell in love with it. I looked around at everyone and just couldn't hold back my tears. I was so grateful, I wanted to hug them all.  
"We all chipped in, it's from all of us to you and Dan. We knew you needed one, so we didn't want you to worry about it." Suzy said as she walked over to hug me. I hugged her tightly back. I made my rounds and hugged everyone else. These people, I could never come up with the words to describe just how amazing they all were. I was so lucky to be able to call them my best friends.  
I went back over to the box and went to open it. I tried to rip the box open, I was overwhelmed with excitement, I just wanted to get it out of the box. I pulled at the top to try to get the tape open and I couldn't have imagined how heavy the car seat was until I fell back, and the box fell on my stomach.  
Everyone was immediately around me, everything was a blur at that moment. I had hit my head on the floor pretty hard but I was worried about Charlotte at the moment. The box was already off my stomach and I just laid there. I couldn't think, I was frozen in shock. Then there was an agonizing pain in my stomach and in my pelvis.  
"Oh god! She's bleeding!" Was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.


End file.
